An Inconvenient Lie
by Alek34
Summary: AU: James Novak, a deadly assassin with a hidden past, was hired to kill Jessica Moore, a Stanford student. There is more than meets the eye when Sam and Dean go after him. Weird things keep popping up, such as memories of a certain fallen angel. Discontinued.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: AU. James Novak is a deadly assassin, hired to kill a student at Stanford: Jessica. Everyone thinks it is an accident, except Sam who saw him in the apartment, and swears revenge. Sam and Dean soon discover something Novak himself doesn't know, are Sam and Dean ready to go up against the ultimate hunt: an Angel.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this stuff. Except the sister, Piper, and the cat Genevieve.

AN: Sorry if I get anything wrong, I've never been to California, and I don't really like doing research, but this is AU so I think I can get away with it.

A man drove calmly down the Dumbarton Bridge in Newark making his way to Palo Alto. He'd rolled the windows down of his rental car, it was a 2009 Ford Focus, black. His own car, a 1958 Cadillac Eldorado would call attention to its self, something that people might remember seeing. Its not that it mattered however, he just preferred to not take any risks, cover all the bases if you will. He himself is wearing a black tee-shirt, with a black sports coat, and black pants. His usual messy black hair straightened and combed back. His bright blue eyes were now sporting a new pair of chocolate brown contact lenses. If anyone was suspicious, and by chance someone remembered seeing him at the scene, their description would be too far off and half the male population would fit it. Male, about 5'10", 5'11", dark hair, dark eyes. He was paid half before hand, and would be given the remaining half after the job was completed. Half of what he is making for the single job could be considered more than some people make in a year. He is involved in a very shady business, and more importantly, he is quite good at what he does. The man's name is James Novak. Some would say he is one of the worlds best assassins, because no one, besides his employers, even knows he exists. James Novak makes 'accidents' happen. Everything he does can be summed up to an accident of some kind, wether it be automobile collision, plane crash, gas leak, or even something as simple as slipping on the floor after a shower. The mark was a would-be lawyer attending Stanford University, her name was Jessica Lee Moore

Her parents, Dan and Sarah Moore, lived away in Nevada, so proud of their daughter attending Stanford University. Her boyfriend, Sam Winchester, the son of the deceased John and Mary Winchester and brother of Dean Winchester, was planning on proposing to Jessica. Novak didn't know why someone wanted Jessica Lee Moore dead, but who ever they were, they had plenty of money. Novak had spent several weeks researching her, finding out her patterns, hobbies, friends, past, and more. Novak figured it was probably the rich friend, Brady, that was paying him so much to eliminate the girl, he was good friends with Sam Winchester, and had apparently introduced the two of them. He didn't know the motive behind the hit, only that after doing the job so long, he could simply look at the file he'd made, and tell who the person who order the hit was within a minute. He considered it his sixth sense, he was never wrong about these things. Even since James Novak was a child called Jimmy, he could read anyone like an open book. But that is a story for another time.

He turned down the radio and pulled in to an empty parking spot two streets down from her and Sam's apartment, at a coffee shop. Where he was from coffee shop never stayed open past 11:00PM, but he guess it must be different here in California, and it was right next to a college. It was nearly 2 in the morning, she was home all alone tonight, Sam's brother Dean Winchester had stopped by yesterday and picked up Sam for some hunting trip. He shouldn't be back until tomorrow. James Novak understood that collateral damage could not be avoided at all times, but he could at least try to keep the casualties at the recommended one. He picked up his bag and walked into the coffee shop. People might consider it odd to park in front of a coffee shop at 2 in the morning on an empty street and not get a cup of coffee. The shop was painted a dull pumpkin orange color, with dark brown border around the walls. There was a woman at the counter, she had long brown hair and green eyes with intense veins that showed she was clearly only awake due to caffeine.

"Hello, can I get a tall white chocolate mocha? And a Blueberry muffin?" Novak asked.

"Sure. That'll be $9.34." She picked up a cup and walked over to the coffee machine to make the drink.

"Are you always this busy at 2:00AM?" Novak asked, looking around the empty shop.

"Ha! Every once and a while some students will have a party or something, get totally wasted, then come here. But most nights it just me, and that television over there." She replied.

"Well that must be fun, getting paid to watch television all night?" He replied with a charming smile.

"I suppose so yeah, I get plenty of time to study to, but its sometime hard to actually stay awake in class the next day, but I get by."

"Oh, so you're a student?" Novak asked, he looked genuinely interested.

"Yep, Humanities and Science. Are you a student? You don't look like one."

"Oh no, I graduated from college three years ago," he smiled "from the University of Miami" he lied.

"So you're a long way from home, are you visiting relatives?"

"Yes, but not here, I'm on may way there, just stopping through."

"Well I hope they appreciate your driving all night just to go see them," she smiled and handed him his coffee and muffin. He thanked her and left. Novak drove his car just out of view of the coffee shop, then got out and made he way to the apartment tossing the uneaten muffin in a near buy trash can. It took only a few minutes to reach the apartment from the coffee shop. He scanned the area for surveillance cameras, seeing none he continued to make his way up the stairs leading to where he would find Jessica Lee Moore sleeping peacefully, completely unaware it would be her last. He checked to see if anyone was in the area before picking her lock and letting him self in. He quickly, but silently entered the room. He opened his bag and pulled out a syringe filled with a sedative that would go unnoticed if they did a toxicology-screen, the only way they would ever find it would be if they checked for it specifically. He walked to the bathroom then removed several scented candles, and began to light them all. As he learned from the blueprints of the apartment, that there were several methane gas pipes leading through the bathroom to the stove in the kitchen. He pulled out a wrench and pulled out the the screws on the pipe, with a little shove the pipe fell apart, letting the gas flow in the air. He turned on the shower. It would look like she had stayed up late waiting for her boyfriend, then decided to light a few candle and take a shower, completely unaware of the leaking gas, the whole room would go up in a matter of moments. He had to get out. That was when he heard it. The door to the apartment opened. James Novak glanced around the wall of the bathroom and saw a tired Sam Winchester walk into the room and collapse on the bed. 'Shit' he thought. He couldn't climb out the window and jump because they were on the third floor. Time was running out, the gas would ignite any second now. He had to get out. He wasn't too happy about killing Sam Winchester either, but it looks like he'll just be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He grabbed the syringe, still half full, and sprinted into the room. Sam having only walked in the apartment 2 seconds earlier, yet time seemed to be moving in slow motion. Sam Winchester jumped up but only in time to feel the needle enter his neck. James Novak made a rash decision, and lifted Sam onto his shoulder, or at least tried, the kid was almost a foot taller than he. Novak ended up dragged Sam out the door of the apartment into the hallway. Then he heard it, the ignition of the gas, and the door he was pressed up against suddenly felt very hot. He grabbed his bag off the floor, leaving Sam lying unconscious on the ground. He ran to the stairs before the fire alarm went off. When students started to exit the apartments he would look like one of them, freaked out, trying to get out of the building, no one would take notice of him.

James Novak checked behind him at the crowd of students now filling the stairway. While looking behind him he ran directly into a man run toward the fire. He was knocked to the floor by the taller man trying to get past him.

"Sorry" the man said absently as he continued forward, Novak recognized the man as Dean Winchester, Sam's older brother. Dean ran up the stairs at incredible speed considering all the students running the other direction. Dean had practically raised young Sam Winchester, after their mother died. They traveled all over the country with their father after that. Novak didn't really know what the reason for that was, their father was a mechanic so its not like they need to travel so much. He hadn't really thought much of it, it didn't effect his job. He slowly picked himself off the floor from where Dean had knocked him down. He didn't regret saving Sam Winchester after all, Sam was all that Dean had left, if he remembered correctly. He had found a good within, this terrible thing that he had just committed. He would have a bruise on him arm that he fell on the next day for sure. But that didn't matter to him. He knew he should feel bad about killing Jessica Lee Moore, but he didn't, emotions were sometimes had to come by for him, how else would one become a cold blooded killer.

There was a crowd of students, standing around the building outside, looking at the fire, and waiting for the firemen. It seemed as though hours had passed since he lit the fire in Sam and Jessica's apartment, yet it hadn't been long at all, the fire trucks hadn't even arrived yet, and its not like they got stuck in traffic.

Novak could hear the sirens in the distance gradually getting louder. He should make himself scarce when they arrive. By the time they even put out the fire he would be long gone. As he walked passed the coffee shop he could tell that the girl working there had left to see what all the commotion was. He unlocked his car, throwing the bag in the back. He would dispose of the bag in the next city or so, it was stupid to leave evidence like that in the same campus let alone the same city. However he didn't want to be found with it either. But he had plenty of time, he could even throw it the window as he drove over the San Francisco Bay. He would dispose of it in Sunnyvale. That would be the easiest. Possibly in a dumpster behind a restaurant, to have it be picked up and lost forever in the morning.

James Novak drove on for five hours to Carson City Nevada, where he caught a flight at the Carson Airport to Atlanta Georgia where he got a connecting flight back home to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington D.C. James Novak lived on 34th St NW in Georgetown. He lives there with his cat, Genevieve, and his sister Piper. It was around 3 in the after noon, yet Piper was still home sitting on the couch watching television, she was unemployed and living off her younger brother. James worked at a local radio station selling ad time. She often wondered why her brother had as much money as he did, she wasn't stupid enough to believe that he only sold ad time for a radio. He also seemed to travel a lot, why would someone working for a local radio station travel anywhere. She assumed he was lying and was really some sort of drug dealer, she always looked for evidence when he was away, but never found anything.

"How'd the job interview go?" He asked as he put up his bag and petted Genevieve. He knew that she had finally applied for a job at the Barns & Noble down the street, and would have had the interview the previous day.

"Good. It went good." She replied noncommittally.

"Good? Like, you got the job, good?" He asked

"Well..." She started but didn't finish.

"What did you do this time?" Novak asked, his sister had problems with authority. The last interview she'd had, the interviewer had inadvertently insulted her in someway 'forcing' her to slap him. These kind of things seemed to happen a lot.

"I was doing really really well! Then, I may have, knocked over scolding hot coffee on his lap." She seemed disappointed that it had ended that way.

"Well at least you didn't attack his face this time." He pointed out. "You know I love having you around Piper, right? Its just that, you can't keep living with me like this, you're a grown women."

"I Know, I know. I'll get a job soon, I swear." She put a hand over her heart to emphasize that she has swore.

"Alright fine, I was thinking of starting to charge rent," he laughed, then focused his attention back to Genevieve.

"So how'd your job thing go? Where did you go anyway?" She asked trying to hide her interest.

"Good. I was in Green Haven, about an hour away, it was nice. I got to say in a hotel by the water." He lied without missing a beat.

"Well, thats great, did you take any pictures?"

"Its not like I was going to Paris, its just Green Haven, we've been there before, remember? Well I'm gonna go change and take a nap, we can go get dinner around 5? Sound good?"

"Yeah sure," Piper answered and her brother disappeared into his room. 'Maybe he works for the government' she thought, 'this is Washington D.C after all.'

James Novak put on a fresh pair of faded blue jeans, and a dull red tee-shirt. He had forgotten to take out his brown contacts before he walked into his flat. He had managed to not look his sister in the eye while she talked about the interview, and get the contacts out as he was 'petting' Genevieve. 'That was a close one' he thought, he didn't want his sister to know what his real job was, if she knew what he had just done to Jessica Lee Moore, she would be devastated, and probably try to turn him in to the police. His black hair was once again sticking in all directions, and his bright blues unhidden.

At that very moment thousands of miles away in Palo Alto California, Sam Winchester was swearing revenge against who ever killed his would-be fiancé. Everyone may have thought it was an accident but he knew other wise.


	2. Chapter 2

Summary: AU. James Novak is a deadly assassin, hired to kill a student at Stanford: Jessica. Everyone thinks it is an accident, except Sam who saw him in the apartment, and swears revenge. Sam and Dean soon discover something Novak himself doesn't know, are Sam and Dean ready to go up against the ultimate hunt: an Angel.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: Just to be clear, Sam and Dean are still hunters, just like always, and James (Jimmy) Novak doesn't know about Angels or Demons. This takes place around the time of season 1, so Sam and Dean don't know about Angels yet.

Dean Winchester leaned in, he had been absently staring out the window, unaware of what his younger brother Sam was talking about, Dean just assumed that it was grief stricken nonsense, until he heard the word 'murder.'

"Dean, I'm not crazy! Jess was murdered! I saw her killer! He even attacked me!" Sam yelled, clearly upset.

"Sammy, you can't just go around accusing this, you need proof? ...Do you think it was a Demon?"

"Of course I think it was a demon, I'm not stupid Dean, I'm not just going to run up to the first cop I see and scream 'a demon murdered my girlfriend!'" Dean couldn't tell wether Sam was more sad or angry, he guessed it was both.

"Okay fine, did this 'demon' say anything?"

"No, he just attacked me," Sam then stared off out the window, guiltily.

"What was that?"

"What was what Dean?" Sam asked innocently.

"Okay, when you say 'attacked' what do you mean by that? Did he hit you?"

"Well, not exactly."

"No exactly?"

"He may have used... A needle." Sam looked off again.

"A needle? When have demons ever used needles?"

"I don't know okay! Maybe he was trying to throw us off or something!"

"Sammy calm down alright. Is it possible that this is like a legit 'murder' not like demon-murder but actual human-killing-human murder?"

"What are you crazy Dean, who would want to kill Jess other than a demon trying to get to me!"

"Okay okay, but just because we don't, or didn't, deal with human-killing-human murder doesn't mean it doesn't happen. But you have a point, is there anyone who had anything against Jess?"

"Of course not. Jess is amazing, she's perfect, everyone loves her." Sam was having a hard time dealing, as expected, he was still referring to Jessica in the present tense, he wasn't thinking clearly. They'd never come up against a demon that used needles, if they wanted you out cold then they'd just hit you till you passed out. Dean wasn't convinced that this was a demon attack. But Sam had a point, Jessica was a nice person, he liked her for the little time he knew her. So that raised the question who would want Jessica out of the picture, and would demons really try to provoke a hunter to going 'back' into the game? However there was another thing bothering Dean.

"Sammy? How did you get out? You said you were laying on the bed when the killer attacked you with the needle, so how'd you get out if you were out cold?"

"What?" Sam questioned, he didn't know.

"They said you were in the hallway right? So if the demon knocked you out, while you were in the room, then how'd you get to the hallway?"

Sam's eyes widened as he began to see what Dean meant. He remembered being on the bed, hearing the shower running, smelling the scented candles, and seeing a man in black run at him with a syringe, and then nothing.

"I have no idea." Sam said quietly.

James Novak walked outside down Pennsylvania Avenue toward a bank, he wanted to check his accounts to confirm the second half of his payment was where it was supposed to be. He and Piper were going to go to dinner soon, and of course he was buying. Its not that he didn't have money, clearly he did, and lots of it, but he wanted his sister to be able to pay for her own food and room. He couldn't support her forever. Well with the kind of money he'd saved up from his hits, he could support her for several lifetimes, but she wasn't supposed to know that, she was supposed to think he made minimum wage at the radio station. Piper was already getting more suspicious of his real job, he figured sooner or later she'd assume he worked for the military or the government and dismiss all other thought. Right now she had it in her head he was some kind of drug dealer. 'Maybe she'll think I'm a CIA agent and stop asking,' he hoped as he continued toward the small ATM machine on the corner of 33rd and Pennsylvania Ave.

The weather was getting cooler with each passing day, it was warm back in Palo Alto, even at night, Novak missed that. He tried not to get connected with the marks or where they lived, he tended to avoid places he'd made a hit, not because of guilt, but because he figured if he went there too many times he might get noticed. He'd been to California before the hit on Jessica Lee Moore, he went once as a child with Piper and their parents to Santa Barbara, and once when he was a teenager to San Francisco. His job took him all over the world. He once killed a French diplomat in Bristol. The abusive husband of a rich women in Sweden. He'd been to many different places since he started his job, all under different names, Oliver Geller, Alexander Turner, John Williams, Jeffery Morgan, all simple common names, nothing like John Smith though, that seemed a bit obvious. Plus he'd tried it once in Louisiana and someone called him on it, they didn't say 'you're clearly lying about your name!' It was more like 'your name is John Smith? Sure it is..." and then continue to stare at him while he was in the room. He checked the ATM and sure enough there was his money. Novak with drew $400 and began walking home, taking the painfully long and unnecessary route. He really should move the country, less people, less surveillance, and less reason to continuously check to see if anyone is following you home because they know who you are. If someone was following you in the country, he figured they wouldn't be too hard to spot. But here in one of the most crazy law abiding cities in America, anyone could be watching.

James Novak sometimes considered committing himself to a mental hospital, but voted against it, he figured, hypothetically, if he ever got caught he'd end up there anyway, so why expedite the inevitable. He didn't want to think he'd never get caught, because that would make him appear unctuous and full of himself. Novak didn't think of him self insane because of him job, but because of the voices he sometimes heard in his head. He was usually able to dismiss and suppress them, but sometimes they would get loud and make focusing on anything else at one time an extreme difficulty. He asked Piper once if she ever heard voices like what he heard, but she gave him a funny look and began questioning him about it, but he said he'd only been joking. The voices weren't there as a child, but came rushing at him as a teenager, he'd hidden them well from his family and classmates, they finally dulled down to whisperers that he heard two or three times a week. He wanted to get help for it at a time, but he was now feeling as though he'd mostly conquered them and there was no point in the help. Perhaps this belief was unhealthy, but he didn't care.

"Hey, where'd you go off to for so long? Your car is still out front?" Piper asked as he walked back into the flat.

"Just stopped by the bank down the street to get money for dinner," he smiled.

"Cool, so while you were gone I looked though the paper for jobs, I realized that you shouldn't have to pay for my dinner, of course I'm going to let you, but I should still start contributing to this family."

"Really, and this thought just came to you now?" He eyed her accusingly.

"Okay fine, Mom called." She sighed in defeat.

"Ha! Mom told you to get a job and stop leaching off me!" He burst into laugher and put a hand to him mouth and another pointing at her.

"No!... Mom told me that she and Dad are coming down from Colorado to visit, and they just can't wait to see where I work." She frowned.

"Wait they're coming here? When? I have work." He said that too fast. He was a little nervous, this was unexpected, a surprise, Novak doesn't like surprises. He did just finish the Jessica Lee Moore job, and it was his time off, but he still didn't want his parents snooping around the flat, and asking all about work, probably more than Piper, he doesn't have a 'million' lies set up. 'What if they ask to meet my friends!' he thought, half panicked. Novak didn't really have 'friends' he had employers, a sister, and the marks.

"Great this is just great." He sighed. "When are they coming?" He tried to make it look like he was lightening up, but it wasn't working. Some people might say he's bad at lying to his sister, but they'd be mistaken. He's very very good, but sometimes he makes mistakes, shows his true thoughts. Luckily she doesn't know that.

Novak and Piper were sitting in Novak's deep blue 1958 Cadillac Elderado. Unlike Palo Alto the weather is cool, with a chill wind, he had to have the windows up and the heater on. They were almost at the restaurant, it was an Italian restaurant, his favorite. They pulled up at a spot half a block from the restaurant, as they were walking up to the door, Novak felt his phone vibrate in this back pocket, he pulled it out the check his new message

"_Good work in P.A, got another job 4 U, Details L8r. -Ryder" _

A message from his employer, Ryder. It meant '_the mark is dead in Palo Alto, I have another hit for you, if you want it call me for details._' truth was he didn't know if he could risk taking a job while his parents were in town. He was angry at them for just assuming they could drop in whenever they want, he was busy, he had a life to. Novak replied _"Yes, when? where?"_

"Hey James, you okay?"

"I'm fine Piper, just texting a friend." He smiled and opened the door for her.

New Message:

"_Two weeks; Vancouver BC._"

Novak had two weeks to prepare for the job, that meant surveillance, getting information, and planning it out. He would spend the next two weeks going to Vancouver for at least a week, and then spending the other week locked away in his room planning out every last detail. This would work. James Novak smiled to himself.

Two hits in one month was unusual for James Novak, he however showed an uncharacteristic act of stubbornness, he was upset with his parents coming to town without consulting him first. They would be staying at his house after all! What if he had a girl over! Oh! What if he had a man over! His father would be hysterical! Well with Piper there, that wouldn't really work anyway. James Novak would have loved to see his parents faces if they suddenly 'dropped by' and walked in on him with another man. It would never happen, but it would've been great. Novak doesn't 'date' he tells his sister that he doesn't feel the need, and he's perfectly fine. He would never bring someone over with Piper there, he finds that awkward. She however has clearly brought men back to his flat when he's away. She thinks she hides it well, he just lets her think that at this point. He'd tell her, someday, but not today. Relationships in his line of work are not usually considered a good thing. He shouldn't have allowed Piper to move in with him, but he supposed he has a weak spot for her, she is his sister after all. Although he doubted that if his flat exploded into a ball of flame he would run in after Piper the way Dean Winchester had run in after his brother, Sam Winchester. Its not that he didn't care about her, well actually. He tried to sum up this nothingness he felt for Piper and conclude it to just sibling rivalry, but he couldn't bring himself to do it, he just didn't care. Its not as though he's gone through his whole life not caring about anyone, he loves his cat Genevieve, and he had loved a girl he knew in college. Her name was Meg. She just disappeared one day. Despite all money he as, all the power, and intelligence, he could never find her. Eventually he just stopped looking.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Piper and Genevieve (the cat) are mine.

Summary: AU. James Novak is a deadly assassin, hired to kill a student at Stanford: Jessica. Everyone thinks it is an accident, except Sam who saw him in the apartment, and swears revenge. Sam and Dean soon discover something Novak himself doesn't know, are Sam and Dean ready to go up against the ultimate hunt: an Angel.

AN: Sorry for all the long paragraphs, I'm trying to cut them down and add more dialogue (I can tell I'm failing miserably). I keep adding lines in to show where it switches perspectives, but they're not showing up :P So I'm going to try and use something else maybe %%% .

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"Who did this Dean? Who would do something like this?" Sam asked viciously, knowing that no matter how many times he, that Dean did not have an answer for him. He and Dean were in Dean's 1967 Chevy Impala driving from Palo Alto, to South Dakota to visit a friend of their fathers, Bobby Singer. Bobby is the best hunter they know, so if anyone could help them find Jessica's killer, it would be Bobby.

"I can't wait to get my hands on the bastard that did this, I want to see his face, when he realizes who I am."

"What exactly are you going to do Sammy?" Dean questioned without taking his eyes off the road.

"It doesn't matter."

"Like hell!"

"I don't want to talk about it right now Dean."

"This is one of those grief things isn't it? Aren't there like steps or something?"

"Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance."

"Right... Anyway, you already started the whole denial thing, so what this is the angry then." Dean stated.

"I don't care. I'm going to find this guy and I'm going to make him wish he'd never gone near me or Jess."

"Okay... So lets change the subject, how about some music?" Dean hit the radio and the song Radar Love blasted though the car.

"Jess loved his song," Sam said quietly, he had tears forming in his eyes. 'Dammit' Dean thought to himself.

"I'm going to kill him, I'm going to find this guy and kill him." 'Great he's angry again.' Dean thought.

"Look Sammy-"

"Don't 'look Sammy' me!" Sam interrupted "You have no idea what I'm going through! You've never lost anyone like this!"

"Really! I've _never _lost anyone I care about in a fire before! What about Mom then? What would you call that huh!"

"Dean you were four! How much grief can a four year old have anyway!" Dean slammed the breaks, the car behind them having to swerve into the other lane to avoid smashing into them.

"A lot! A lot of grief! Don't you dare talk about her like that." Sam sighed, there was no point arguing with Dean about this right now.

"I'm sorry. Okay?" Sam apologized without making eye contact.

"Fine. I don't want to talk about this right now. There's still a few hours till we get to Bobby's so lets just listen to music or something." He pulled out one of the cosset tapes, he kept in the glove box. Incoming traffic was now flowing around the Impala, luckily they weren't on a busy street or anything like that.

"My car. My rules. We're listening to AC-DC." He put in the tape and turned up the volume letting Back in Black play over the speakers.

Bobby Singer watched from his house window as a very recognizable, shinny, well polished, black chevy Impala pulled up near the front door. When he'd heard the car, his first instinct was to go for the shot gun he kept in the umbrella stand by the door. But as soon as he saw the Winchester's car he knew exactly who was stopping by. Sam and Dean Winchester, John's boys. After Sam and Dean's mother, Mary, was killed back when Sam was still in the crib, by a yellow-eyed demon, John dragged the boys all over the county hunting 'things.' John died two years earlier, the doctors said his heart just gave out, but Sam and Dean think it was yellow-eyes, ending their years long cat and mouse chase.

Bobby grabbed a glass of holy water, just a precaution, and opened up the door.

"Hey Bobby," Dean was the first one out of the car, Sam could be seen sitting up front.

"Dean. You mind?" He held out the glass. The curve of Dean's mouth went up slightly in a smile.

"Sure thing Bobby," he picked up the glass and drank half, then walked over to the passenger car door and knocked on the window. Sam slowly pushed the door open and lifted himself out of the car seat he'd been in for several hours. They'd driven straight there, making as few pit stops as possible. Sam took the glass from Dean and drank the other half of the holy water proving that he was in fact a human being. Sam turned to wave hello at Bobby allowing him to see the boy's face. Sam looked terrible, as if he hadn't had a good nights sleep in ages, his eyes were bloodshot, and his hair scrambled all over the place. Bobby had seen this look before, many times, even on himself when he looked in the mirror after his wife died.

"Dammit, what happened?" He asked, trying not to sound too inconsiderate.

"Jessica's dead," Sam said, his voice trembling. Bobby didn't have a clue who Jessica was, but he figured Dean would fill him in later, he didn't want to go asking questions like that when it was clear this Jessica person was someone important. Bobby and Dean gave each other glances before he finally asked.

"Demon?"

"Ha." Sam gave sort of a half laugh, it was filled with desperation and despair. "Honestly? I don't know. Probably not, if you'll believe that." Sam's voice was now filled with shock and anger, as if after everything he'd been up against, everything he'd killed, and it turned out to be his own kind that killed her.

Bobby gestured for Sam and Dean to come in the house. The living room area was a mess. Devil's traps on the ceiling, books piled up all over the room, papers scattered, empty glasses once filled of whiskey on the tables, leaving rings in the wood to show where they've been. Bobby looked at Dean and mouthed the word "girlfriend," Dean looked down then back up and mouthed the word "fiancée" back with emphasis. Bobby nodded and looked back over at Sam who was absently staring out into space.

"So. You trying to find who killed her?" This caught Sam's attention immediately.

"I want a name, and a place." Bobby sighed. There was only one person he knew who could do something like that. Pamela. She is the best psychic he's ever met. He knew there was something she could do. But Pamela couldn't just divine a name and a place, she needed more.

"I know just the psychic for the job. If we're going to do this then she's going to need something this killer of yours touched."

"Great. Like what? The only thing left of the place is ash and junk." Dean complained, immediately realizing his mistake. Sam ignored the comment and began brainstorming out loud.

"They said they found remains of candles near the origin of the fire, Jess doesn't own any candles, she thinks they're weird." There he went with the present tense again.

"So you think your guy put 'em there?"

"Yeah thats exactly what I think."

"Well you boys should've called first instead of driving all day and night trying to get here. Now you get the honor of driving back and picking up those candles, thats the only way the spell would work." Sam's face looked like he'd just found all the motivation he was going to need, and complete confidence that they would kind the killer. Dean on the other hand was standing there with his mouth wide open.

"You mean. We. Have to drive back." He sounded heartbroken. "But. But. But."

"Shut your mouth boy, you'll catch flies." Bobby wisely told him. "Now the faster you get us those candles, the faster you find your man. So get going." He ordered. Sam was all too fast running out to the Impala. Dean walked into the kitchen, grabbed a beer, then slowly followed Sam out to the car.

"Be back in about two and a half days," Dean said sluggishly. Bobby laughed and gave him a wave off. Dean replied with a sarcastic half smile before getting back in the drivers seat and starting the engine.

%%%

The sky was dark with heavy clouds, the rain pouring down as if they were needles. The ground was flooding with dirty water. It was nearly noon now. James Novak walked down the muddy street near the Smithsonian toward the capital building. He had his black raincoat hood pushed up over his head as he made his way to meet with Ryder, his employer. People who wanted hits or assassinations done went to Ryder, a business man, he then passed them on to Novak, the man who did said hit or assassination. Novak didn't know who had technically hired him, that was something kept between Ryder and the client, this way Novak didn't know the client and the client didn't know Novak. He was meeting Ryder here to be briefed on the next job.

James Novak approached an occupied bench on the far left side. They sat on opposite ends of the bench, appearing to be strangers, yet they both knew the other. Ryder was wearing, like Novak, a black raincoat, but he had a suit under his, while Novak had his usual faded jeans, with a light grey Rolling Stones t-shirt, and black blazer. Ryder placed a folder on the bench beside him, then got up and began to walk toward the aerospace museum. Novak subtly reached for it after a few moments. He picked himself up and walked through the pouring rain to a different building. Once inside he went into the bathroom, check to see he was alone, then locked the door and opened the folder.

_Name: Jens Von Furstenberg _

_Date of Birth (DoB): 9/15/1961_

_Occupation: Business Executive for a Home Appliance Company_

_Residence: 786 SE 20th Street Vancouver, WA 98663_

Bellow that was a picture of a man, balding with some gray hair on the sides, blue eyes, glasses, he looked over weight, and was wearing an expensive suit. There were several other paragraphs about who he was, what he did, blueprints of his house, what kind of car he drives. He had no family, and lived alone. 'This is going to be easy' Novak thought. He put the file back in the folder and slipped it into his black messenger bag.

The rain had finally slowed down to a drizzle as Novak walked around puddles to his car that was parked in a parking garage a few streets down. The empty streets were beginning to once again be filled with tourists and business men. Novak maneuvered his way around the crowding people until he reached the parking garage. He would spend a week in Vancouver collecting the information he needed, routines and habits. Then another week back here at home locked away in his room, planning every tiny detail, nothing would go wrong this time, he would plan with the unexpected in mind.

%%%

The drive back to Palo Alto was almost unbearable. Sam wouldn't sleep, he just complained about not being able to help Jessica. Dean did feel for the kid, but that doesn't mean he wants to listen to him talk about Jessica none stop for hours on end. Dean eased the Impala into a spot in front of the police station. Dean pulled out an FBI badge from the glove box and stepped out of the car.

"Stay here," Dean ordered. He walked into the building, the place was really crowded, with cops and random other people.

"Hello my name is Agent Ulrich, I'm with the FBI, we're investigating the Jessica Moore case, can I speak with the lead detective on the case. I need to see the evidence." He said it all without missing a beat, completely confident that everything he said was one hundred percent believable. The officer at the front desk looked like a rookie, curly red hair, thick rimmed glasses, and dimples. He hesitated then got up.

"This way sir," said and the two walked in the back.

"Detective O'Hare, this is Agent Ulrich with the FBI, they're investigating that explosion on campus." A tall man with light blond hair stood up. He had a rectangular face, and some facial hair. His eyes were a chocolate brown color, and he wore a black suit with a blue tie.

"How is it that I can help you Agent Ulrich was it?"

"Thats right. I need to see your case files and the evidence from the Jessica Moore case?" Dean told him.

"Sure thing, but what exactly is the FBI's interest in a case like this, its was just an accident, a tragic one, but still?"

"I can't release too much information on the case, as it is still on going, but all I can say is that not everyone is convinced that was in fact an 'accident.' We believe this may have been murder."

"Murder? Really?" He seemed shocked for some reason.

"Yes, well anyway, can I see that evidence now."

"Uh. Yeah right this way." They walked into a large room filled with shelves, filled with, well, evidence.

"Here we go, Jessica Lee Moore, this is what's been recovered so far, but you must understand Agent Ulrich, the scene is in ruins, there's not much left at all."

"I understand that Detective. I've heard that you recovered a few candles on the scene, is that true?" 'Come on! Come on!' Dean was practically yelling in his head right now.

"Uh. Yep here we go, five candles." Dean sighed deeply with relief. The detective noticed this and asked.

"What?"

"I have it on good authority, that the late Ms. Jessica Moore, did not own candles, and thought them obnoxious."

"Wait, you think the killer left these there?"

"Thats exactly what I think. I'll need to take these."

"Um... Alright I guess."

Twenty minutes later Dean was walking out with the candles in hand. Now all he had to do was drive another day back to South Dakota with Sam and Bobby's psychic would do the rest. He hadn't realized how tired he was until he got back in the car.

"I think we should stop and get some sleep before we head back to Bobby's." Dean yawned.

"No Dean we can't!" Sam looked like a little kid who'd just been denied the toy he'd been promised.

"Please Dean, I'll drive and you can sleep!" Sam pleaded. Dean sighed before opening the door and stepping out of the car. Dean never let Sam touch his 'baby' but its the least he could do, and he really needed some sleep. Its not everyday you're driving back and forth across half the country to try and catch the man who killed your would-be fiancée.

%%%

James Novak walked into his flat, dripping water from head to toe. He lifted his wet heavy raincoat up to the coat hanger on the door.

"I'm back," he yelled.

"Did you get some Cheese Its?" Piper yelled in reply from the back room of the flat.

"Of course." He put a few bags of groceries on the kitchen counter, after his encounter with Ryder, he'd called Piper and said he was at the grocery store and asked if there was anything she wanted. That immediately caught her attention, she came running into the room wearing a bathrobe, some bunny slippers, and she had her hair up with weird green stuff smeared all over her face.

"What happened to you?" Novak asked, not hiding his disgust.

"Excuse me," she snapped as she lifted the Cheese It's box from the shopping bags. "This is a facial mud mask, it helps clear up my skin and make me look freaking gorgeous for my interview tomorrow."

"Looking 'gorgeous' won't help you get the job, although I suppose that it couldn't hurt."

"Ha you joke now, but inside you're just jealous that I got all the looks in the family," she bragged. He could tell she would have flipped her hair in a seductive way if it hadn't been tied back behind her head.

"Sure thats it, I'm 'jealous' of _you_" he shrugged sarcastically.

"Oh please, I have dates _all _the time," now she admits it, "when's the last time you went out with someone. The only girl I've ever seen you with was that girl from college, Meg, or something. Jimmy, that was, what, six, seven years ago? Growing up I always thought you were gay cause you never seemed interested in anyone, but thats not it is it? You're not interested in _anyone_."

"Well how can you expect me to bring a date home anyway? You're always here. You get to bring random men home, I'm gone like a fourth of the month, every month." His voice sounded like monotone.

"Whatever James, Mom and Dad are coming by soon I think, you can explain to them why you're not married and don't have their grandchildren on the way."

"That doesn't even make sense, you're older than me." He put a hand to his forehead and sighed again.

"That reminds me, I have to go to Virginia for business for a week tomorrow, so if Mom and Dad 'drop by' I probably wont be here."

"What! You're kidding right? You're going out of town tomorrow! For a week! You just got back!" She was beginning to give him a headache.

"I know okay," he shock his head.

"Why do you have to go anywhere anyway! You work for the _local _radio! Local means local, as in, here! Not Virginia! Not Green Haven! Why are you gone a fourth of the month, every month!" 'Dammit,' he thought, Novak really didn't want to have this discussion right now. What he wanted to do, was go to Vancouver and kill a business executive, we don't always get what we want do we. He was considering telling her it was a 'matter of national security' or something government sounding like that. It could work.

"Look Piper, what I do is my business and not yours okay? For all you know I could be going to Virginia to visit a women. Maybe I'm going back to headquarters at Langley. Maybe I'm really into the drug cartel and I'm some sort of mafia. You don't know what I do in my time, and you never will, got it? I don't snoop into your life, so stop looking into mine. Now I'm going into my room to pack a few things so I would appreciate it if you just let it go and accepted that I'm going to be gone for the next week." Novak turned his back to Piper walking toward his room, he thought that went well, he had tried to add in a little guilt trip in that speech, maybe plant an idea or two in her head.

"Jimmy. You need to be here next week. I already told Mom and Dad that you would be here."

"All the more reason for me not to be here, and my name is James, Jimmy is a child's name."

"I'll call you James when you stop acting like a child. Jimmy."

"You're calling me a child, and here you are resorting to name-calling?"

"Well, if you're so mad at Mom and Dad why don't you stay here so you can yell at them yourself instead of having me do it for you all the time." She had a good point. He knew he was running from his parents by accepting this job.

"Please James, you need to be here," he turned around and saw her eyes water up. Piper could be very emotional when she wanted to be.

"We'll see," he stated, then continued to walk into his room, successfully shutting the door in her face. He could hear her storm off after he closed the door. Genevieve was sitting up on his bed, she was licking her paw, she looked as though she had just woken up. He felt a pang of sadness at the thought that their arguing had woken the sleeping kitten. He moved over to the bed and began to stroke her fur, she rolled over on her back and purred as he rubbed her belly. He smiled. Novak did just get back, he'd left poor Genevieve with his dog loving sister Piper for almost a week and a half. It didn't feel right leaving her again. Genevieve. Not Piper.

Novak hadn't seen his Mother or Father for over two years. He wanted to keep it that way. He'd always noticed he was different from them. His mother's long blond hair and green eyes. His father's straight short cropped red hair and brown eyes. Even Piper had long flowing red strawberry hair and bright green eyes. He himself however had jet black hair that stuck in all directions, and ice cold blue eyes. He looked nothing like them. They loved dogs, he loved cats. They had normal lives, he was an assassin would heard weird voices. He'd asked them several times if he was adopted. They'd denied it each time, saying he was their son. He didn't believe them. He'd asked for a paternity test once. They'd refused and yelled at him. He was angry at them. Piper was the oldest, and she was like them both in almost every way, so clearly she was chosen as 'the favorite.' His childhood had been lonely, and miserable.

He wanted to confront them again. Better yet, he wanted to show them that he was living perfectly happy without them, better than he ever had. 'Great, did I just convince myself to stay?' Novak asked himself. But he already knew the answer. There would always be another business executive. He petted Genevieve again before pulling out his cell phone and dialing a number that very few people alive knew.

"Ryder, its Novak. Somethings come up this week so I wont be able to make the business trip tomorrow."

There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment.

"Well, I'm sure I could get someone else to cover you for the first half of the meetings, you could still come for the important part next week."

"You're sure? You still want to me to come?"

"Yes of course James, you're my best employee. I'm sure that we could find someone to cover you until next week. They can brief you one all the boring stuff going on this week. But you'd have to give up a week of pay?"

"Yes that's find, that sounds great actually. Next week works perfectly."

"Wonderful. Thanks for giving me the heads up so soon. Be seeing you." The line went dead. Good. This is good. It wasn't about the money this time, it was about him. Novak smiled to himself. He'd have to see his parents, but he would make it fun for himself, and miserable for them. 'Now all I have to do is find a boyfriend and I'm sure they wont bother me for a while,' he joked to himself. No, no. He just needed to show them how great he was doing with his life. He could do that.

%%%

Sam and Dean pulled back up at Bobby's after three really long car rides. One here. One back there. And one back here again. They had switched off, Sam drove for awhile letting Dean sleep, then Dean would drive for a while letting Sam sleep, or at least try to.

"Sam, Dean, I want you to meet Pamela Barns, best damn psychic in the state.

"Its nice to meet you boys," she reached out a hand. Pamela had long wavy black hair and was wearing a tight black tank top and some blue jeans.

"So I hear you want to find killer?"

"Yes," Sam barely let her finish the question before he answered.

"Alrighty then, lets get started shall we."

They walked into Bobby's living room where a table was prepared. Pamela had laid out a table cloth with weird symbols on it, and placed a few candles in the middle.

"Something he touched?" She asked reaching her hand out.

"Yeah, we have some candles." Dean pulled the candles out of the bag and handed them to her.

"Alright, so this is how its going to work. We're going to do a séance, we all have to sit at the table and I'm going to say a few words, find out where the guy, is, and a name. Sound good?"

"Yeah, sounds great, can we just do it already?" Sam was almost shaking with anxiety.

"Eager aren't we?" They all sat down around the table holding hands, one of Pamela's hands however, was gripping a candle.

"I invoke, conjure, and command thee to appear unto me before this circle! I invoke, conjure, and command thee to appear unto me before this circle! Huh. Castiel? Who are you Castiel?" She asked, eyes closed with an intense look on her face.

%%%

Meanwhile. James Novak was sitting in his room at the desk. Genevieve had just jumped up onto what he was working on. He laughed and began to pet her. Piper was in the other room watching television, after their fight she finally wipe off the weird green paste from her face.

"I invoke, conjure, and command thee to appear unto me before this circle!" He put his hands to his head in an hopeless attempt to stop the voice that was now yelling in his mind.

"I invoke, conjure, and command thee to appear unto me before this circle!" Novak could feel the blood pumping in his ears, Genevieve seemed unaffected, and Piper hadn't come running in the room. Normally he would have assumed it was just one of the voice he regularly heard, but this was different, this voice was loud and painful. Unlike the other voices who usually gave him advice and helpful hints, this voice was demanding questions.

"Castiel?" The voice asks. "Who are you Castiel?"

"Ah! Go away!" He yells back.

"No, sorry, Castiel, I don't think so." The voice says to him. He can now feel the blood seeping from his ears in between his fingers. He lets out an involuntary yep as the voice begins to speak once more.

%%%

"No, sorry, Castiel, I don't think so." Pamela was trying to sense his location, it worked like what you see in the movies. The cops would be on the phone with the bad guy, and they had to keep the bad guy on the line long enough to get a trace. Suddenly the television in the corner of the room turned on and the sound of static enclosed the room.

"What's happening?" Dean whispered.

"He's screaming at me to go away," she whispered back. "Show me your face!" She was once again talking to "Castiel." All of the phones in the house began to ring. The radio turned on and began switching channels.

"I've just about got it, he's somewhere on the east coast, just give me another second," Pamela whispered.

%%%

James Novak was on the bed, his hands pressing against his bloody ears, his back arched, and a high pitch scream escaping his lips. Piper was banging on the door trying to get in, although he couldn't hear her, he'd locked it when he started working on his plot to kill Jens Von Furstenberg, he was considering a automobile collision.

"Show me your face!" The voice said, several times. Novak wondered how the voice expected him to say anything, when he was busy screaming like that. He couldn't even hear his own screaming anymore, but he knew it was still going on. He couldn't take it anymore, he felt as if he might lose consciousness, everything was starting to spin.

%%%

"He's somewhere in Washington D.C. I can feel it," she whispered to everyone. The electrical wiring was going nuts, lights flashing on an off, the radio going haywire. "I invoke, conjure, and command thee to appear unto me before this circle!" She said again.

"He's in D.C, Georgetown, on... 34th NW Street... Building number... 458... In an apartment... Hold on." She whispered violently. "I invoke, conjure, and command thee to appear unto me before this circle!" The windows nearby exploded. Glass flying in all directions. Pamela let go of the candle and Bobby's hand quickly, and everything shut off, the phones, the TV, the radio. Everyone stayed silent for a few moments before Dean finally asked.

"What the hell was that?"


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Piper and Genevieve (the cat) are mine.

Summary: AU. James Novak is a deadly assassin, hired to kill a student at Stanford: Jessica. Everyone thinks it is an accident, except Sam who saw him in the apartment, and swears revenge. Sam and Dean soon discover something Novak himself doesn't know, are Sam and Dean ready to go up against the ultimate hunt: an Angel.

AN: Thanks for all the reviews, it makes me super happy and stuff :D Sorry its so short :P I'm going to try and update again soon, Monday at the latest, I don't know how much time I'll have to write tomorrow, I'm having a movie marathon with a friend, and my mom says I'm hogging the computer.

%%%

"James! James!" Piper was screaming trying to break down the door to his room, but her slim frame wouldn't allow it. She continued to shove against the door, its hinges staying firmly in place. She didn't know what to do, he wasn't replying to her frantic calls. She decided that banging against the door was doing nothing, she needed someone to help her.

She raced to the front door of the flat swinging it open and running out into the chilly November air wearing nothing but a bathrobe and her bunny slippers. She didn't even need to start knocking on peoples doors, a crowd was already standing out staring into the hallway wondering what was going on.

"Please! My brother! He needs help!" She screamed. The men from 4C and 5C we're both speed walking to Piper, she ran back inside allowing them to follow her. She stopped in front of his room door and moved out of the way. The first man, she knew as Liev Zhukovski, rammed the door, she could hear the wood splinter. The second man, Chris Hale, had his phone ready to call 911. Zhukovski hit the door a second time, it gave way in an instant, what left of it smashing into the wall. Piper was the first one in the room, she saw her brother lying on the bed, blood seeping out of his ears and mouth. She didn't even have to look back at Hale to know that he had already dialed the number.

"Hello, I'm at 458 34th NW Street in apartment 2C, we need an ambulance." He continued to talk for a moment before informing them that an ambulance was on its way.

"James? James can you hear me?" Piper questioned, he still wasn't responding. Hale walked over and placed his head to Novak's chest trying to listen for a rhythm. He was breathing, just barely. It was hardly another five minutes before the paramedics were picking Novak up and putting him on a gurney, leading him out to the ambulance. Piper thanked Zhukovski and Hale before jumping in the back of the ambulance with her brother.

The paramedics had him wearing on of those oxygen masks. One of the EMT's was calculating his blood pressure, another was hooking up something to one of his fingers so they could keep track of his heart rate, and one of them was talking to Piper.

"Can you tell me exactly what happened?"

"He was in his room working, and I was in the living room watching TV, then he just started screaming. The door was locked so I couldn't get in, so I don't know what was going on." She whispered, she was shaking with adrenaline.

"Is he going to be okay?" Piper asked, she was clutching Novak's hand for what looked like dear life.

"I don't know, but we've stabilized him for the moment, we'll be at the hospital any minute. You can talk with one of the doctors once we get there." The EMT replied. Piper and James only lived about three blocks from Georgetown University Hospital, yet it seemed like hours away.

%%%

"So, Washington D.C. Huh?" Sam asked impatiently .

"What? Hold on. Pamela, does this normally happen?" Dean motioned to all the broken glass surrounding them.

"Nope, not in my experience, at least not with a human."

"So our killer, is a demon after all?"

"Hun, if a demon did this, it's nothing like any demon I've ever dealt with."

"What do you mean?" Sam beat Dean to the question.

"That means, if a demon did this, then it'd have to be unbelievably powerful."

"What like a mega-demon or something?"

"Well I suppose you could put it that way."

"Great, so lets kill it," Sam said and started walking to the door.

"Hold it right there boy," Bobby put a hand on Sam's shoulder. "You can't just 'kill a demon' you can exorcize one, but you can't just go in there an try to kill it, you of all people know that."

"There has to be a way Bobby," Sam pleaded.

"The only way I know how to kill a demon is with 'The Colt' but even thats just a myth. I can't help you kill this here demon, but I can help you catch 'em, and send 'em back to the pit." Bobby helped Sam with the devils traps, he wrote a few really good ones down, and told him the best damn exorcism he knew, before long he was waving goodbye as they got back in their father's Chevy Impala and drove off.

Sam wanted more than anything to get to Washington D.C and find the thing that'd killed his sweet Jessica. He wouldn't let it get away so easily this time. He knew the building the thing was in, but he had no idea what the flat number was. Pamela had been cut off by the flying shards of glass before she could find out for him. How was he supposed to find this thing if he didn't even have a description. He'd have to try and say "Christo" to everyone there. Christo was Latin for Christ, Deus would also work, it was Latin for God. Saying that to a demon would make them flash their true eyes, even make them visibly flinch sometimes. He would find the thing that did that to Jessica, and he would do whatever he could to make the thing suffer before he through it back to hell. They would arrive in D.C in within 13 hours.

%%%

Piper Novak, now wearing some hospital scrubs to go along with her bathrobe, was standing in the hallway of the hospital talking with a doctor in front of her brother's room. They wouldn't know what exactly happened to James Novak just yet, he had fallen into a coma, the nurses were preforming the normal routine for coma patients. He had been changed into a hospital gown, had a few pillows propping his head up, and an IV sticking in his arm for morphine.

"We won't know exactly what happened to trigger this physical response until he wakes up, but it appears that something must have been blasting sound of some sort in his ears at such a high volume that a coma was induced. We can't be sure of course, but the blood in his ears supports this theory."

"Well that can't be it, I was in the apartment the whole time I didn't hear anything."

"It may not have been something physically blaring in his ears, it may have been in his mind, but he believed it was happening so unconditionally that his body responded and acted as if such a thing was happening."

"So you're saying this whole thing was in his head?"

"As I said, we can not be sure, it maybe be a sign of an early onset disease, we are going to run a few tests and when we find out anything we'll let you know.

"Alright, thank you Doctor." The both went their separate ways, Piper went back in the room with Novak. They'd been in the hospital nearly two hours now. Her brother's condition had not changed since.

"James? James can you hear me?" She knew he was in a coma, but she'd read somewhere once that talking to coma patients helped get them through it.

"James you're in a coma, we're at the hospital." He was still in a deep sleep, but if there was anything she could do to help at all, she would. She was beginning to feel bad about their fight, all the things she'd said. It might have been the stress from that fight that'd ended him up here in the first place. This was all about their parent's coming to visit.

"Mom and Dad will be here tomorrow," she said aloud in awe as she remembered.

"Mom and Dad, will be here tomorrow," she said a second time, but this time in dread and horror. They didn't know their son was in a coma. What would happen if they showed up at the apartment only to find both children gone, and a huge mess. She should call and cancel the visit. Piper didn't have her cell phone with her, she'd left it in her jeans pocket back at the apartment. She saw the hospital phone on the wall and decided to borrow it. She knew the number by heart and began to dial. Her father picked up after two rings.

"Hello, this is Steve Novak."

"Dad? Hey its Piper."

"Piper, brilliant, I was just about to call you, your Mother and I are all packed, we can't wait to come down and see you and Jimmy tomorrow." His voice sounded genuinely happy and excited.

"Uh yeah. We can't wait to see you and Mom to, its just that now-"

"Wonderful, well your Mother and I are actually going out to lunch soon with some friends, you know that nasty time difference, you and Jimmy should go get something to eat now to. I love you, tell your brother hello, and we'll see you tomorrow, good night darling," he'd interrupted her and hung up before she'd gotten the chance to tell him what'd happened. 'Great' she thought. She'd probably be here for the rest of the night, she needed to go back and clean up the apartment, she was pretty sure she'd even left the front door wide open.

They lived so close she decided to just walk. She told a nurse that she was leaving at would be back within a few hours. The sky was a light gray color, covered in clouds. It was drizzling slightly, but nothing compared to what it had been a few hours before. After ten or so minutes of walking she finally arrived back at the apartment building. Everyone who had been outside three hours earlier was now nowhere to be seen. Someone had been kind enough however to shut her door for her. Luckily it was still unlocked because she had left her keys inside after all the commotion. The living room wasn't too bad, James kept it pretty clean, he was a bit of a neat freak, unlike herself. She walked over to the hallway leading to his room, the door was still pushed up against the wall, two of its hinges broken off, and the wood cracked and splintered everywhere. There was nothing she could do about the door, but she could at least clean up his room a little. Wash the blood off the sheets, pick up some of the splintered wood, pick up a few scattered papers around his desk. Genevieve was sleeping soundly on the desk purring. She'd have to feed Genevieve as well.

Piper ripped the first blanket off the bed, and shoved it in the washing machine. Luckily everything under it was intact and clean. Genevieve was now wide awake, jumping under the covers of James' bed, Genevieve always slept with James, never her self, even when he wasn't here she slept in his bed. Piper began picking up a few papers off the floor surrounding the desk. She noticed one of the papers had a few drops of blood on it. She picked up the paper and studied the blood on it, unsure of wether she should through it out or now, she began reading the beginning to see it if was anything important to do with radio ad time.

"Jens Von Furstenberg." She read the name aloud as she saw it on the paper. It also contained this man, Von Furstenberg's, address, birthday, and what he did for a living. 'Well at least he's actually focused on his job for once,' she concluded, assuming that the man was buying an ad for his home appliance company. 'He must be based in Vancouver,' she thought. She was unsure of what a business executive from Vancouver would be wanting with ad time of a local Georgetown radio, but she figured she'd ask James about it later. She folded the paper and put it in her robe pocket, she'd read more later, this was after all the first real thing she'd found about James' job. Piper had always done all of her snooping when James was out of town, but this was the first time she'd done it with him still here, and she'd actually found something. He was in a coma so its not like he'd notice it was gone.

She arrived back at the hospital two hours later, the apartment looked spotless, unless you counted James' bedroom door. Piper had since changed into some real clothes. A pair of tight dark denim jeans, and a long gray sweatshirt. She told the nurse that she was back and asked if anything had happened since she'd left, nothing had. She walked back to room 236 where her brother laid still in a coma. She walked thought the open doorway, only to stop dead in her tracks. There as a man standing over James' bed, he was wearing a black suit, and had a long black coat draped over a chair.

"Oh, hello, I didn't hear you come in," the man turned around and said to Piper. "Please come sit," he smiled and motioned for the chair.

"You must be Piper, I've heard so much about you, I work with your brother. My name is Zachariah Ryder, but you can call me Zack."


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the sister, Piper, and the cat, Genevieve.

Summery: AU. James Novak is a deadly assassin, hired to kill a student at Stanford: Jessica. Everyone thinks it is an accident, except Sam who saw him in the apartment, and swears revenge. Sam and Dean soon discover something Novak himself doesn't know, are Sam and Dean ready to go up against the ultimate hunt: an Angel.

AN: Thank you all so much for the nice reviews :D They're very inspiring xD If I contradict myself anywhere, let me know, I need to go back and re-read everything I've written so far xP

%%%

James Novak awoke slowly. He was in a room unfamiliar to him, he hadn't opened his eyes yet, but he could tell. Novak could feel the warm rays of sunlight hit his face, the blankets seemed stiff and had weird textures. He also felt a weight on his torso, usually he could expect that to just be sweet little Genevieve, but this was different. Novak slowly eased his eyes open, the room was a pale yellow color, as were the blankets. Piper was sitting in a chair by his side, her head reading on his chest, sound asleep. He looked around the room again, there was something in his arm, an IV. He must be in the hospital, he thought, trying to recall the events leading up to his admittance. He remembered hearing some sort of voice, one different to the usual ones, it was very loud and demanding.

Piper was beginning to stir, he used the arm not hooked up to the machines, to reach over and shake her slightly. She lazily opened her eyes, taking a moment to realize that her brother was wake before jumping up and hugging him with all her might. This caught him by surprise.

"Piper? What are you doing?" He asked sounding very confused.

"You scared me half to death!" She sounded angry now. "I thought you were going to die!"

"Piper I'm fine. Why are we in a hospital?"

"You don't remember?"

"No really, hence the question 'why are we in a hospital?'"

"You had some sort of freak out, you've been in a coma since yesterday, its probably been a good 15 hours."

"What. 15 hours? What happened?"

"I don't know, I was watching TV and then you just started screaming like crazy, we had to bust down the door just to get to you."

"We?"

"Yeah, some neighbors helped me, sorry but we're going to have to get a new door for your room, its in pieces at the moment. It was the only way to get to you." 'Great' he thought, so much for privacy after this.

"I need to get the doctor, they told me if you woke up to call them immediately," She got up from the chair and walked out to the hallway. He sighed, it was upsetting that he couldn't remember what had happened. He remembered being in his room and that voice, but nothing else, he couldn't even recall how he'd gotten to his room in the first place, let alone what the voice had been saying.

Piper waltzed back in the room being followed by a tall man with dirty blond hair, wearing blue scrubs and a white lab coat.

"Mr. Novak? Hello my name is Doctor William Urso, I've been your doctor since you came into the ER yesterday. How are you feeling?" His voice was soft, he sounded a bit like one of those doctors from that show Dr. Sexy M.D. But more believable.

"I feel fine, my head hurts a bit, but other than that, fine." Novak's own voice being deep and quite gruff sometimes.

"Good, thats good." Dr. Urso motioned to Piper "can you give us a minute, I need to ask your brother a few questions?" He asked kindly.

"Yeah of course Doctor," Piper waved goodbye and walked out into the hallway.

"You should consider your self lucky, we didn't really think you would wake up at all, I'd call that a miracle if I were you. Now I'm sorry, but I'm required to ask these questions, I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable around your sister. Now, are you on any medication, or are using drugs of any kind?" Novak tilted his head to the side, he didn't believe that he looked like a drug user, he must be mistaken because Piper to, thought that he was big on the whole drugs thing.

"I have the occasional aspirin," he answered.

"Alright. Are you sexual active at the moment?"

"What? No."

"Have you experienced any hallucinations recently?" The Doctor asked. Novak paused, considering his answer.

"What would you consider a 'hallucination?'"

"Seeing or hearing something that is not there, that doesn't make sense, or something that you see as amorphous." He'd never really told anyone about the voices in his head, but then again, the voices had never thrown him into a coma either.

"This is purely confidential, yes?"

"Of course."

Novak looked down at the ground, then at the window, not making eye contact with Dr. Urso.

"I trust you not to mention this to my sister, Piper. I have heard the occasional, voice or two, in my head."

"Voices? How long has this been going on?"

"Since I was a teenager I suppose. I never thought it was really worth mentioning, its not like I'm a psycho killer or anything," he joked ironically, Dr. Urso gave a small laugh, unaware that Novak wasn't completely lying. True he was a killer, but that didn't make him a psycho, in all honesty James Novak was very neat, efficient, and he wasn't a completely cold hearted bastard.

"You joke, but this very possibly could be schizophrenia, we have medications that can help ease the voices if you'll let us?"

"No, no, its quite alright, they have subsided greatly over the past few years. Except for yesterday. I don't really remember what happened."

"That is to be expected with these kind of things, did you hear something yesterday?"

"I'm not sure, as I said, I don't really remember, but I do remember hearing something, something very loud."

"Interesting, and this has never happened before?"

"Never."

"These voices are a representation of your subconscious, do you remember what this specific voice was saying? Your sister said that you had had a bit of a fight earlier, this may have been a side effect from the stress of the fight?" That can't be it, he hadn't really felt anything toward Piper afterword. He had felt some stress thinking about his parents, but that was nothing he couldn't handle, he'd had much worse stressful situations in his day, he was an assassin after all.

"No I'm not sure." This went on for several more minutes before Piper was allowed back in the room.

"As I understand it, you two live very near by. I'm going to allow Mr. Novak here to return home. I'm going to write you a prescription, and we should set up a return day, in perhaps a week or so to check up on things."

"Wait, so you're just going to let James leave now?" Piper questioned.

"Yes, but there are a few conditions, for safety, you wont be allowed to drive for at least ten days, you need to stay home and get some rest, I'm going to give you and your sister my card, so call if anything goes wrong, or you don't feel well, just incase and stay away from flashing lights that may stimulate the brain in a way that could cause a seizure. The nurse will be here any moment to help you get checked out."

After about another hour and a half they were all set to head back to the apartment. Piper had instructions to keep an eye on James, and not let him go out with out her there. Hospital policy forced Novak to be lead out of the hospital via wheelchair. Piper laughed at him, unable to do anything about it, he just pouted.

Piper had his car out in front of the hospital, the doctor didn't want Novak to walk home, despite living so close. He made a move for the drivers seat, but Piper blocked him and forced him in the passenger seat instead. He didn't like Piper driving his car. To be honest she wasn't the best driver, he thought it was a miracle she even had a drivers license.

"Do you remember what we were arguing about yesterday?" She asked out of the blue. Novak responded by tilting his head to the side, with a look that said 'of course not.'

"Well, in about two or so hours, Mom and Dad's flight will have landed-"

"Oh."

"When I was talking to Dad yesterday, I may have left out a few things, like, that you were in coma."

"They don't know?"

"I'm sorry, he cut me off before I could tell him."

"Piper its-"

"No, I'm really sorry I didn't tell him-"

"Piper, its fine, really."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." He was sure that his father would find a way to use that against him. Then a thought occurred to him. How was he going to kill Jens Von Furstenburg, if he wasn't even allowed out of the house by himself? He need to call Ryder, and let his know that something else had come up. He didn't sound like the best employee at the time.

"I'm going to have to call in sick for work I guess for the next week."

"Oh don't worry about it I already talked to your boss." 'She what?' Novak's eyes widened and he turned to face her.

"What do you mean?" He asked trying to hide his panic.

"You're boss, Zack Ryder, yeah, he dropped by yesterday to make sure you were alright. I'd found some paper in your room, I was going to ask you about it, but then I met Mr. Ryder and he said that he would take care of it for you."

%%% FLASHBACK %%%

"_You must be Piper, I've heard so much about you, I work with your brother. My name is Zachariah Ryder, but you can call me Zack." He smiled and reached out a hand._

"_Hello, nice to meet you, yeah I'm his sister." Piper smiled and shook his hand. _

"_So how's he doing?"_

"_The doctors say he's in a coma, they don't know when, or if, he's going to wake up." She had a tear in her eye._

"_Don't worry, I'm sure James will be fine, he's quite the fighter."_

"_You think?"_

"_Oh yes. He's a real solider, if I know him, he'll probably try to go back to work as soon as he wakes up, so when he does, make sure to tell him I'm giving him some time off, I can get someone else to take on his work load."_

"_I actually found this sheet on his desk earlier," she pulled out the blood stained paper on Jens Von Furstenburg. "You can have it if its important." He took the paper and began reading over it. _

"_Ah yes, this is the client sheet, I can take care of that for him. Well I actually have to get back to work, I'm on the clock at the moment, its my clock so I figured I would come down here and see him, when he wakes up make sure to tell him I said not to worry, I'll handle his work while he's getting his strength back" They said their goodbyes. _

%%%

"So Ryder has my file on, Mr. Furstenburg?" He managed to subside his shaking, he didn't want Piper to have the file.

"Yep, so now you can go home and get some rest. I'm glad I finally got to meet someone you work with after all this time, and it was your boss, he was really nice, kind of weird though."

"Thats Zack for you," Novak said absently.

'_Sam Winchester is coming.'_

"Huh what'd you say?" Novak asked Piper.

"What? I didn't say anything."

"Oh, okay." They pulled up into James' usual parking place, and got out of the car, walking up to the apartment.

"Do I really want to see what's left of my bedroom door?" Novak asked when they reached the front door to their flat.

"Yes, you're going to have to put up a new one eventually," she laughed. Piper wasn't kidding when she said he needed to put up a new door. His was splintered into oblivion, plus two of the hinges had been completely ripped off the wall.

'_Sam Winchester is coming.' _ Novak heard what the voice said that time 'Sam Winchester is coming.' He thought that was a weird thing for the voices to say. He hadn't thought of Sam Winchester much at all since he'd killed Jessica Lee Moore. Novak was taken out of his thoughts as he heard someone knock on the front door, followed by Piper yelling "I'll get it!"

Novak put his back to the wall by where the remains of his bedroom door was, he slowly peered around the corner. Usually when Piper answered the door, she would immediately start talking like the unbelievably friendly social person that she was. But this was different. Novak didn't hear anything.

James Novak moved silently to the book self he kept parallel to the bed. He grabbed a book, The Lion's Game by Nelson DeMille, he'd read it awhile back when it came out, it was quite the good book. But he'd hallowed it out when he was done reading it, Novak didn't usually re-read books, and if he did, he could probably just get it at the library. He opened the hallowed out book and removed a 9mm Beretta compact pistol. He held the gun with both hands by his side as he once again checked the hallway. Seeing no one there, he quietly moved away from his room toward the living room where the front door was. With the safety off, he pulled the beretta up near his head, facing the ceiling at an angle. He took a deep breath and almost sprinted into the living room.

"Jimmy! Good to see you!" Novak stopped dead in his tracks as he meet the tall man's smile and welcoming arms, there was a suitcase by his feet, a woman was holding a bag and talking to Piper, she to, turned to say hello to him.

Novak barely had time to slip the gun into the back of his jeans, before they all noticed him. He sighed.

"Mom. Dad." Steve Novak, James' father, was a tall man, much taller than Novak himself. He had short cropped red hair, and a new, equally red, goatee.

"Why did you come here?" Novak asked, emotionless.

"Can't we come by and see our own son and daughter?" His mother, Katherine Novak, asked.

"Not without asking, you can't."

"But Jimmy, son, we did ask."

"Yes, you asked Piper, not me, and the last time I checked, this was 'my' apartment."

"Honey, you sell ad time for the local radio, its not like you're busy or anything."

"'Not like I'm busy or anything?' You didn't even consult me! I have a telephone you know. In fact, despite your belief, I was supposed to be busy this week, at this very moment am missing a very important business 'meeting' in Vancouver!"

"Why were you going to Vancouver?"

"That's not important, and clearly I'm no longer going to 'Vancouver' instead I'm stuck here, not getting paid." This conversation was irritating him greatly. Even more annoying was the voice in his head that every few minutes was saying "Sam Winchester is coming." He tried all the techniques he'd learned over the years, but none of them were helping, the voice just continued to say it over and over again.

"Why don't you ever listen to what I have to say, if you'd asked, then I might have been able to plan a time that could you actually come and visit, instead of something inconvenient like this. Its not like you're messing with Piper's schedule, she's not going anywhere, she doesn't even have job!" Piper looked pissed, she hadn't wanted them to know that.

"Piper, you said you were working at the Barns & Noble?"

"I didn't get the job okay." She folded her arms and pouted greatly. "Its not like you're going anywhere either 'Jimmy,' the doctor told me to keep an eye on you."

"Doctor? What's she talking about Jimmy?" He father asked suspiciously.

"Its nothing, I'm going out, I'll be back later."

"Oh no you don't. Doctor Urso said you're not allowed to drive for the next ten days!"

"Not allowed to drive? What's going on, what did you do!" He father questioned.

"Piper, James, what aren't you telling us?" His mother asked calmly.

'_Sam Winchester is coming.'_

"Jimmy had some kind of spaz attack yesterday, and was in a coma for like 15 hours."

"Drugs. Is it drugs? Jimmy are you doing drugs?"

"What! Why does everyone think I do drugs!"

'_Sam Winchester is coming.' _

"Okay! I get it 'Sam Winchester is coming! Will you just shut up!"

"James? Who are you talking to?" Piper asked quietly.

"What? Nothing. Its nothing. If I can't drive, I'm going out for a walk." He pushed pasted everyone and walked thought the front door, slamming it shut. He knew that it was childish, but he really didn't want to put up with this right now. He'd moved to D.C to be alone, and away from his parents and Piper. Yet Piper followed him here, and she'd invited the parents to. He could disappear if he really wanted to, he was good at that kind of thing. James Novak could become someone else easily. He heard the door open again behind him, Piper was following him again.

"Leave me alone Piper."

"You know I can't do that, Doctor Urso said I shouldn't let you wonder off on your own. You were released from the hospital hardly an hour ago." His head still hurt a bit and he did want to go lay down, but not with the whole family in the place. Piper asked him to slow down, but he refused and continued walking.

%%%

"Dean, we were supposed to get here almost five hours ago."

"Sammy, you fell asleep at the wheel, while I was sleeping. I think thats as good a clue as any to say that we needed to stop at the motel for a few hours." Dean was really getting annoyed with Sam's logic. He was sleep deprived, and wasn't thinking straight.

"Anyway, do you really want to go up against this demon, when you're tired as hell, and he could easily kill you? We got to find him first anyway."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. You're right." Sam gave in.

"Good, now all we have to do is go around to everyone in this god forsaken hell hole and say Christo to everyone." This was going to be a long day, he thought as they walked up to 458 34th NW Street.

%%%

"Piper, quit following me, go help Mom and Dad or whatever. I need my space."

"Not today you don't." She answered smugly. He sped up his pace.

"How long exactly are Mom and Dad, staying? And where?"

"About a week I guess, and I was hoping that you might, take the couch, and let them have your room." She sounded guilty, and she was.

"You want to give them my room! None of you every ask me for anything, you just take it!" He turned his head and yelled back at her, without slowing. He then turned the corner and walked directly into another person. Himself and the other, both saying "ow," as they collided.

Novak apologized as he was looking up at the much taller person that he'd walked into. Thats when their eyes met.

James Novak was staring directly at the face, of one, Sam Winchester.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I own northing except Piper and Genevieve.

Summery: AU. James Novak is a deadly assassin, hired to kill a student at Stanford: Jessica. Everyone thinks it is an accident, except Sam who saw him in the apartment, and swears revenge. Sam and Dean soon discover something Novak himself doesn't know, are Sam and Dean ready to go up against the ultimate hunt: an Angel.

AN: I know, I'm a horrible person, I always said I wouldn't leave terrible cliffhangers like that because I hate them so much, yet here I am writing cliffhangers :P I didn't want to get a head of myself. I've been planning this out up until chapter 5, then I hadn't really planned anything after that, I had to rewrite this chapter a few times to make sure I made it how I wanted it :P I suppose I asked for this, I kind of wrote myself into a dead end, but I think I'm getting out of it okay. I'm trying to update as much as possible, but I have a lot of school stuff coming up this week and next. Sorry if I get my facts wrong, I don't really know anything about guns. At all. Man this author's note is long. Anyway:

%%%

James Novak looked up at Sam Winchester, they had just collided in the hallway of _his _apartment building. He had to focus on not letting his mouth hang open in shock.

"Hey, are you alright man?" Sam asked. Novak quickly gained control of his mind again.

"Uh. Yeah sorry."

"See! This is what's wrong! Doctor Urso said you should stay inside and rest James!" Novak wanted to give her a glare, but was having difficulty taking in the sight before him. The last time he saw Sam Winchester was under a week ago in Palo Alto California. Sam Winchester looked terrible, as if he hadn't had a good nights sleep in that week. His eyes were red with sleep deprivation, his hair messy and greasy. Even his clothes looked as though he'd been wearing them for more than one day in a row. Novak always kept his personal life with Piper and his life as an assassin pretty separate, sure he took home the occasional file or surveillance photos, but nothing like this had ever happened before.

Novak noticed movement near Sam Winchester and turned his head, only to see Dean Winchester giving him a funny look, as though he recognized him. Perhaps from a certain stair case leading to Sam Winchesters apartment? Novak desperately hoped not. Sam Winchester however, didn't seem to recognize him at all. This was a good thing. He could walk away from this encounter. So he couldn't look, or sound guilty. Better yet, he couldn't have that look of recognition on his face either. So he would 'play dumb' if you will.

"Right, well sorry." Sam apologized before continuing his stride. Novak to, continued to move forward as if the entire thing hadn't happened. Except then Sam Winchester stopped him.

"Hey wait, just a quick question. Have either of you," he motioned to Novak and Piper both "ever heard of the artists '_Christo' _and 'Jeanne Claude?'" Sam, having actually paid attention in school, unlike Dean, knew how to sneak in the word Christo to normal conversation. The latin word however, had no effect on either of them.

"Um. Yeah, aren't they those people that put fabric on random stuff? Sorry, but I'm not what you would call a fan. If you want to see some real modern art sculptures, you should check out 'Andy Goldsworthy', his art is beyond amazing, totally blew my mind." Sam and Dean having noticed the lack of flinching or black, maybe red, eyes, simply nodded and moved on. Novak immediately felt a wave of relief rush over him, yet the initial panic was still there. '_How the hell did they find me?' _He thought.

Meanwhile Dean Winchester was thinking something else, '_where have I seen this guy before?' _He had recognized him the moment Sam walked into him, yet he couldn't place him. The Red headed girl had turned the other way from the black haired man, and was now walking up toward a higher floor.

"Hold on just a sec," Dean patted Sam's arm and speed walked after the girl.

"Right now? Really? Dean!" Sam stayed put however, he didn't want to have to listen to Dean flirt with some girl, he could yell at him later though. Dean finally caught up with the girl in the stairway.

"Hey sorry, I was just wondering, who was that guy you were walking with a second ago?"

"Is this supposed to be a flirting tactic or something? Trying to figure out if he's my boyfriend?" This girl clearly had no shame, and was fully confident of herself as being the object of conversation. On any other day, she would have been right.

"If it was, would it work?"

She flipped her hair and then in a seductive tone said "maybe," with a cute smile. Dean smiled back.

"Actually, I think I know him from somewhere, maybe we went to school together or something? I just can't seem to place his face." A slight flash of disappointment shone in her eyes for a moment, then quickly dissipated.

"He's my brother. James Novak, we're in 3C."

"Novak. No I guess not, I don't recognize it either. Well thanks anyway. Oh, and trust me, if I wasn't here on business, I'd be hitting on you just like," he snapped his fingers "that," and smiled, before moving to join his brother.

"Okay so, there are five floors to this building, with like 10 flats on each, thats like 50 flats, and not everyone lives alone, so I'd say about 75 people, maybe more, maybe less."

"Great. Just great."

"Okay, flat 1A is right up here, what are we going to do? Just have them open up the door and then yell 'Christo' and run?"

"No. We have badges, Sammy, just sound intimidating like a tough FBI agent or something, and be all 'do you know a guy named Christo, or something?' you know." Sam put a hand to his head and began shaking it, agreeing that it was the only plan they had, plus he had to admit he was a bit tired.

Dean, having been more prepared than Sam, pulled a very realistic fake U.S. Marshals badge with the names Zant and Cartellone from the band 'Lynyrd Skynyrd' out of his leather jacket pocket, giving one to Sam.

"Lets get started, I guess." They went and talked to the tenant of 1A, he was clean, they had even asked if he lived alone. He did.

"So. Sam, how are you doing?" Dean asked, trying not to sound too sappy.

"We already talked about this Dean, I'm fine." Dean eyed him suspiciously.

"Right," he made sure to drag the word out. "So, you're not thinking of selling your soul or anything to bring her back are you?" He said it quickly, not knowing another way to bring it out without being awkward or seeming to ask too many questions.

"What? Of course not Dean, I wouldn't do that," Dean could tell right way that Sam was lying, if anyone knew the kid, it was Dean. He remembered the Kübler-Ross model, despite popular belief. Sam should be in the bargaining stage by now, or at least he figured. After all, in that show '_Dead Like Me_' after the main character died, in the first episode, she practically went through all the stages in one scene. He decided to make sure to keep a good eye on Sam for the next couple of days, cause you can't believe everything you hear on TV, and what he'd seen so far, Sam was a bit far from acceptance.

"Sam, I can't believe I'm about to say this, its going to sound like a total chick-flick moment, but I can't let you go through with it without saying something." Sam knocked on the door to 2A without interrupting the conversation.

"What is it Dean?"

"Well, are you sure you want to do the whole revenge thing?"

"What kind of a question is that? Of course I do!"

"Its just that, you always said you didn't want to be like Dad, going off to college and all that just to get away from this life, and well-"

"I'm doing the exact same thing he did," Sam sighed, stopped walking and looked down at his shoes for a moment, in deep thought.

"For right now, I defiantly want to find the bastard, but I'll keep what you said in mind, thanks Dean. It doesn't look like anyone is home in 2A, we should come back later," he changed the subject and moved on to 3A.

%%%

James Novak was sitting on a park bench in Georgetown Waterfront Park, it was only about five or six blocks from the apartment. The chilly air brushed past him making the hairs on his arms and neck stick up straight. He was wearing a coat, just not a very good one. At least the sun was out, but to Novak, it didn't really matter anyway. Despite the reaction his body was having from the cold, Novak himself hardly even registered it, there was only one thing going through his mind at that time: '_How the hell did they track me here from Palo Alto?'_ Novak had no idea. He hadn't left anything behind. Nothing. He'd worn gloves. He changed his hair. He'd even worn brown contact lenses, and made his voice far less gruff. If they'd had anything from finger print matches from AFIS, (Integrated) Automated Fingerprint Identification System, or facial recognition, then: A. Sam and Dean would have been all over him. B. The cops would probably be throwing him in a jail cell right now. Yet neither was true. Were they messing with him? Trying to deteriorate his mind before they finally came after him? Of greater import, how were Sam and Dean Winchester here, and the cops weren't? Sam was studying to be a lawyer, not an investigator, Dean, well, there wasn't much on Dean Winchester. Maybe he worked for the CIA or the NSA? Novak hadn't really researched much more on either of them, or their families, after all, he wasn't hired to kill either of them. Worst of all, they just happened to appear on his side of the country, the very day, his parents came to town! It sounded adolescent and immature to be so worried about a visit from his parents, it made him feel like a teenager again, that was a very bad thing. Novak followed the law, excluding 1st Degree Murder on multiple accounts, yet whenever his parents were in town, it made everything he did seem guilty. It was much harder to lie to them, they were his parents. He didn't want to give them a good reason why they should just move on down here with him and Piper. He had a good thing going here. But he'd also organized his life with a fail safe that would allow him to just up and leave without a trace whenever he pleased. He would only resort to that as a final option. He figured eventually he would leave everything here in DC behind, except Genevieve of course, to start a new life in the city of his choice. He wanted to maybe move to the coast of Croatia eventually, one thing both Piper and his parents didn't know about him was that he was fluent in more than just English. James Novak spoke French, Swedish, German, and Croatian. They knew he had taken a few German classes in high school, but had no idea he'd picked it up almost instantaneously. His parents didn't exactly have the biggest care in the world about his school, personal, or social lives. As he said before, Piper was the favorite.

Thinking back to Sam and Dean Winchester, Novak assumed Dean must be in some kind of high governmental position, maybe holding back the forces to let Sam get to him. Novak shook his head, he was beginning to sound like Piper, maybe they were related after all, '_is this how she feels all the time?' _he thought rhetorically.

James Novak looked up to take into account his surroundings. If Dean Winchester was keeping an eye on him, then he wouldn't be '_alone' _in the park, there would be at least one agent. They wouldn't want him to just up and leave now would they? Of course they could all be the type, so unbelievably full of themselves that they were sure they would find him again? No. Probably not. Anyway, he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, he was usually quite good at that. The only other people in the park was a homeless man curled up on another bench, and a couple pushing a stroller, with two small kids running around them. Agents wouldn't have brought kids with them, so the homeless man could possibly be an agent. He watched the man subtly, as if glancing at something in the distance. He had a cup with him, from the light, Novak could tell it was half filled, as if from a day of collecting coins. His clothes were dirty, looking like they hadn't been washed in a few days. He had a warm coat on, but nothing expensive. His face was really dishevel, he doubted the agency would want someone who would ever let their appearance be that way, even for an undercover job. He would have to have been planning it for awhile, and Novak had only killed Jessica Lee Moore last week. Also there were no vans driving around.

Novak, would have jumped, if he had not taught himself to not show _any _form of fear, when he felt his cell phone vibrate in his upper thigh pocket. He took a deep breath and reached for his phone. Piper. Maybe she was worried. Or maybe she was just checking to make sure he hadn't dropped dead randomly so she wouldn't have set an extra plate at the table. No, she's too nice for that.

"Hello?" He asked.

"James? Hey its Piper, you need to come back to the apartment, dinner is almost ready." Novak honestly could have stayed on that bench all night completely lost in thought, however the second he heard her voice, he got snapped back into reality, only to realize just how cold it really was.

"Yeah, I'll be there in like 10 minutes."

"Great, see you in a minute," and she hung up.

15 minutes later Novak had dragged himself though the freezing air back to the flat. When he reached it he made sure to keep a keen eye out for Sam or Dean Winchester. He really didn't want to run in to them again. He knew he would, eventually, but he could at least put it off for a while. But if they could track him all the way from California, back to the exact building he lived in, he might want to start looking at cities in Europe, he didn't know if he was ready for Croatia yet, maybe look at France, Niça was nice.

He reached his flat on the third floor and pulled out the key. He didn't know if he should knock or not, it was _his _flat. He decided not to. Novak walked in, and found everyone standing in the kitchen carrying plates to the table, he'd made it just in time '_great'_ he thought sarcastically.

They all got their food and sat around the small table, it was meant for 3 at the most, but they'd moved it around to fit 4.

"So, Jimmy, how was your little walk?" Steve, James' father, asked.

"Cold." It seems as though just wanted a conversation starter before they went on about what they really wanted to talk about, they weren't listening to him, so he figured he shouldn't go into detail.

"Right, thats nice, tomorrow Piper and I are going shopping, so we thought you might want to do something with your father," Katherine, James' mother, told, not really asked. Just another thing no one asked him about.

"What did you have in mind?" He asked his father, with a tense noncommittal tone.

"Whatever you want, I want to see what my son likes to do in his free time," he seemed genuine. He was going to let Novak pick? Novak felt a sadistic smile creep up his face. He knew exactly what he wanted to do. His father would be in for a bit of a surprise, he wasn't going to pick something that his façade would have picked, he was going to pick something that the, honest to god, James Novak would pick. This would be interesting.

%%%1 Day Later%%%

James and Steve Novak walked down the long dark hallway filled with bad florescent lighting. They were in the 'Maryland Small Arms Range' it was about 15 miles away. It was a shooting range. He hadn't told his father where they were going, but he'd grabbed two guns from the apartment that he had hidden around. When they got here his father was very confused. The man had probably only used a gun maybe once or twice. He'd said he wouldn't shoot, he didn't have a gun, and he didn't want to rent one, and that was were Novak got to pull out the second gun and say 'don't worry I brought you one,' and give him a nice sadistic look. This was going to be fun. Novak came here every month or so, its not like he needed practice or anything.

They reached the sign in desk and Novak signed his fathers name, and the name Anthony Wayne, a not so carefully chosen name, it was a mix between Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne. Batman and Iron Man. He'd read several marvel comics growing up.

Once they reached the range, Novak inserted a new magazine clip, took the safety off, and cocked the gun. He didn't have to clean either of them, he made sure to do that ahead of time, you never wanted a gun to jam up on you when you need it.

"How far do you want to shoot?"

"What?"

"How far? This is a Smith and Wesson model 41 .22 semi-automatic, I thought it might be good for a beginner. Mines a Browning Hi-Power, its a 9mm semi-automatic. I'm going to start at about 45m you could try at maybe 10m and then work your way up." Novak sounded cool, like a complete professional, emotionless, Steve could tell his son new exactly what he was talking about. Steve had no idea his son was into guns. But that wasn't the odd part. After they placed their targets at the appropriate distances, Novak aimed his gun at a target 45m away, he took almost two minutes just standing there, focusing. He fired all 13 rounds within what seemed like 3 seconds. Novak turned to Steve and motioned for him to start his shooting. After the first shot, Steve almost dropped the gun, he'd seen kicks like that in movies, but didn't figure them to be that big of a deal. Finally he fired all of his rounds and they made their way out into the empty field. Reaching Steve's first, they hadn't even needed to take off the sheet, there were no holes on the paper. They continued on to Novak's target, where they found every single with a small bullet hole in each bulls-eye. Steve had been wanting to maybe talk to his son, they hadn't spoken in a while, but now he didn't really know what to say. He was sure they would be here for a while, so eventually he would make his way into some kind of conversation, even with the protective ear gear. He would have to squeeze in a few questions about how long he'd been doing this. Piper had brought up a few questions about Jimmy's job and habits of leaving town, yesterday when Jimmy was out. He wondered if Piper knew her brother was a bit of a gun fanatic. If he wasn't a gun fanatic, how else would he have been able to make those shots, unless he'd been doing this for some time. His son, was a bit of a stranger to him.

%%%

Dean woke up in the motel to the sound of rock n' roll playing on his cell phone. He grabbed it quickly noticing that Sam was still asleep, he didn't want to wake him because Sam could really use all the sleep that he could get right now. He stepped into the bathroom, he didn't recognize the number but answered it quietly anyway.

"Hello," he whispered.

"Yes, hello, Agent Ulrich? Sorry for calling so early," it must have been at least 8 in the morning back in Palo Alto, he and Sam had slept in, then again they did just change time zones. "But we seem to have made a break in the case, I thought you should know about it. After you came by and mentioned that his may have been murder, I got a few of my men to check witness statements."

"Yes?"

"It seems several students saw a man leaving the 'crime scene' that no one knew as being a student or occupying one of the apartments. We got a pretty good description from some of the kids who saw him, nothing good enough for a sketch, but I figured it was worth mentioning incase you had some suspects. A girl working at a near by coffee shop was really able to help out."

"Alright, go."

"Okay, we got that he's about 5'11", has black hair, she said it was slicked back, but there were hairs that didn't really want to stay down, so his hair is probably really messy, she said he had brown eyes, but apparently he was good looking so she noticed he was wearing contact lenses. If this is our guy, we can't be sure what his actual eye color is-" The image from the man, James Novak, from earlier popped into his head, he was around 5'11", he had black messy hair, and he seemed really familiar.

"Thank you detective, you actually just really helped me out with this one, a suspect just popped into my head matching that description. I'll make sure you get credited," Dean was trying to sound extremely grateful, because he was.

"Alright, glad we could be of some use." They said their goodbyes and hung up. He remembered now. Running up the stairs to Sam's apartment. Crashing into some guy. Knocking him to the ground. That, was where he had seen James Novak before. He just had to hope that he was still in the same place he'd been yesterday. He couldn't have just up and left with his sister still there? Could he? Dean figured that Sam was still asleep, so he should go check this on out on his own. Dean wrote a note saying that he would be back later, and to call him when he woke up. He was going to visit James Novak of apartment 3C.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Piper, Genevieve, Steve, and Katherine. I guess.

Summery: AU. James Novak is a deadly assassin, hired to kill a student at Stanford: Jessica. Everyone thinks it is an accident, except Sam who saw him in the apartment, and swears revenge. Sam and Dean soon discover something Novak himself doesn't know, are Sam and Dean ready to go up against the ultimate hunt: an Angel.

AN: Sorry for the wait. I've been really busy lately. This chapter was actually supposed to be the second half to chapter 6. I was just writing very slow, and decided to break it up at the last minute. I'm going to finally speed everything up a bit. I'll try to make the next chapter longer.

%%%

The shock wave of the gun exploded in the air. Several sparks flying from the muzzle flash. A small bit of smoke escaped the barrel. James Novak lowered his weapon to his side. He and his father, Steve, were at the shooting range. Novak had hit nearly every target since they had begun. Steve had been trying to start a conversation, but Novak kept interrupting by reloading and firing his gun. Plus it was very difficult to hear what he had to say while wearing the proper head gear to protect against hearing loss. Novak was unfocused, that, however, did not effect his shooting. He was thinking about what he would have to do next. He could grab a few essentials and bail. Or he could find and _silence_, Sam and Dean Winchester. He was leaning toward leaving. He didn't want to leave D.C, he had a good thing going here. But all good things come to an end. He fired a few more shots.

"Jimmy?" Steve asked loudly several times, trying to get the young man's attention. Novak pulled off his ear protection and focused on his father.

"Yeah?"

"I just thought we might be able to talk a little, you know, father son bonding?" Novak put a hand to his ear, then nodded absently.

"Yeah, sure. What do you want to talk about?"

"Well, um. How are things going right now with work? Are you seeing anyone?"

"Uh. Good, things are good, and no." Steve looked a little disappointed, as if he'd been expecting a longer or more detailed answer.

"Okay. You work at a radio station right?"

"Yeah," he loaded then gun and cocked it.

"Can you tell me what's that like? Is it fun?"

"We just play music and stuff. You know, weather, traffic. Its okay." He looked down at his gun anxiously. Novak probably shouldn't be shooting, especially after his freak out the other day. But he honestly didn't care. The only thing on his mind was Sam and Dean. They clearly knew what they were doing. If it took less than a week to track him all the way from Palo Alto back to his flat building, then finding which flat number was his wouldn't prove to be such a challenge for them. He fired the whole round with out the ear protection, and his father still talking. He hadn't realized he'd zoned out.

"Sorry did you say something?" He watched his father sigh and say no.

Steve and Katherine Novak had never told James that he wasn't really _theirs. _It was a Thursday, the day they found him. Its almost as if he had simply fallen from the sky. They had left young Piper with a babysitter that night. It was their 'date night.' A night they had reserved for each other since they had, had a child. They had eaten at a fancy restaurant, and then decided to go walking in the park. The sun had hardly set. The chilly air brushed against them, giving them reason to walk and cuddle at the same time. That was when they found him. He was lying in a field, hardly a year old, without so much as a blanket. His face was pale, his eyes a blue so bright they could have been glowing. They rushed him to the hospital. The doctors said that he was alright, but if he'd been out there much longer he probably wouldn't have made it. After several complications, the Novak's decided that they could look out for him until social services could come by. Two days afterward, a man appeared on their doorstep. He was a tall bald black man wearing a nice suit. Steve couldn't remember his name, it was unusual, started with a U or something. What he could remember, was the man talked with a monotone and his eyes looked so deep and old, even though the man couldn't have been over 40. He had told them to keep an eye on 'Castiel' he had said. They had never seen him again, but eventually they decided to adopt 'Castiel' as their own. They did however, rename him 'James,' after Steve's father. They had never told James anything. They had kept it hidden for so many years, but that didn't stop James from figuring it out. It actually wasn't that hard. Yet, they continued to deny it. Most people would say its bad to keep that he was adopted from him, but they were just trying to protect him. He would ask about his real parents, and maybe get even more disconnected than he already was from them if it was even possible. Steve had always wanted a son, Piper was excited to have a baby brother, she knew he was adopted, but she didn't know the facts, and she'd promised never to tell Jimmy, as far as he knew, she'd kept that promise. Katherine was a little nervous about taking Jimmy in at first, but he quickly grew on her. He was a perfectly healthy 14 month old baby boy. There were a few things that they noticed when they'd first taken him in that distinguished him from other children his age. One, was the fact that he didn't laugh, or cry, not at first anyway. The only emotion he ever showed was when he would look at you. He'd had this look, as if he knew what you were thinking. He never really lost that look, but over time he began to act more normal. Two was two long marks on his shoulder blades. They weren't scars, more like birthmarks. Jimmy didn't like to be touched there. He still didn't. Three, one day when Jimmy was 3 years old, they were taking Piper to a birthday party, and left Jimmy with a babysitter. When they returned home a few hours later, they found several broken windows, and all the light bulbs in the house completely shattered. The babysitter had sworn that Jimmy had just screamed really loud, smashing all the glass. She'd said it was unnatural. They never hired her again.

"Do you wish to leave now? I am finished here." James interrupted his train of thought. James had used up all his bullets, he begun walking away. Steve nodded and picked up his gun from the ground and followed after. They hadn't exactly had the talk he'd wanted to, but he wasn't going to give up so easily. There was still the car ride back to Jimmy's apartment, and Piper and Katherine were still out shopping.

%%%

Dean eased the Impala into a spot across the street from James' apartment. He pushed the door open and stepped out. The cool air blew his short cropped hair back in a rush of wind. His leather jacket also blowing back behind him as he move toward the other side of the street. He was feeling ambivalent about wether or not he wanted James to be home or not. He wanted to confront him, but it wasn't really his place. Sam deserved to be there. Dean really should have waited, or woken Sam up, he didn't really understand why he hadn't, it was just for Sam's own good. Dean wouldn't exorcise the demon, maybe just trap him, if he was lucky no one would be home. He took a deep breath and began to climb the stairs leading to apartment 3C. He took in the image of watching all the numbers and letters increased as he came closer to his destination.

After what seemed like hours, Dean found himself standing directly opposite the flat he was looking for. How was he going to do this? What was he even going to do? He didn't know. He looked down at his boots and took a deep breath, he shouldn't be having problems. He'd done stuff similar to this a million times. But this time it was different.

Dean knocked on the door. He waited. He waited. Nothing. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a lock picking set that he had made a while back. He subtly eased the two thick paper clips into the lock and gave it a twist, hearing a quiet click, he pushed the door open. Dean looked around, not completely convinced that the flat was currently vacant. He checked for traps, peering around to make sure no one was standing there with a baseball bat ready to swing it at his head. He didn't see or hear anything so took a step forward into the flat. Nothing happened. He sighed and shut the door behind him quietly. He quickly checked each room to make sure there was no one hidden. There wasn't.

After his quick talk with James' sister, he realized that what James' had done to Jessica was most likely surreptitious, Piper seemed like a nice girl. Therefore any evidence that Dean had the right guy, would most likely be hidden. Plus, James' seemed like a smart guy, so he wouldn't just leave stuff like that laying around when someone, like Dean, might try to infringe his apartment. But he would still look. The kitchen was very small, the cabinets almost empty. There was a book shelf on the wall near the door, it included books like _The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle, _and oddly _The Bible: Red Letter Edition. _He moved on to a bed room he thought must be James'. There was also a bookshelf here as well, the guy must really like to read. There were several posters on the wall for what looked like bands. There was an AC-DC poster up also, Dean couldn't help but smile a little at it. He moved to the desk, it was one of those desks artist and architects use, it was tilted upward and there was a light attached. He pulled out a few of the drawers, there was nothing there except some art utensils and paper. He gave the last one a quick shove, but unlike the others, this one didn't budge. It was locked. He couldn't pick the lock, so he decided to take a risk. Dean put one foot up against the desk and put both hands on the drawer handle. He put all his strength into it, and pulled. The wood splintered and and the drawer flew out of the desk, papers scattering everywhere. He squatted down and picked up a paper, there was a lot of information on it about a man named Jens Von Furstenburg. He read threw the paper, and realization finally hit him. This was the next target. _What would a demon want with some business executive in Canada? _They must need something from him. Dean picked up all the papers, and put them in his jacket, he felt that having found this was very meritorious, maybe Sam would finally show him some approbation when he returned with the papers. He picked up the desk drawer and attempted to put it back in its place. The wood was practically shattered in some places. That drawer was never going back into the desk. The moment James' would enter the apartment, he would know what had happened. Dean knew he would run. So he had to think fast. He walked back into the kitchen, grabbed some salt, and opened the fridge. After looking for a while he found something that would be perfect.

%%%

"Do you want to do anything for lunch?" Steve asked. They were on their way back to James' flat. Steve was driving, he didn't want his son to drive, he wasn't _medically _fit.

"Not really hungry," he replied without taking his eyes off the window.

"Okay. Do you have anything good back at the house?"

"Haven't exactly been shopping lately."

"Okay then were going to go out, are there any good restaurants around here?"

"I should probably take the guns home first, walking into a restaurant with one isn't exactly the best idea."

"Right of course."

"So what is it that you want to talk about?"

"What?"

"Please, you've been trying to start a conversation all day."

"Okay, well I just wanted to know how you were doing? Jimmy you're not exactly giving me the best answers here."

"What do you mean?"

"I asked you how work was, and you just said 'its good,' thats all, no real commentary or anything," Novak couldn't really give a commentary about his work to his father, because he'd only really been to the radio station once or twice.

"Okay, do you just want me to tell you about work?"

"No. I mean, just your life in general. I know you used to date that girl, Meg right? Have you talked to her lately? Or is there someone you're thinking of asking out?"

"I haven't seen Meg in a really long time, we dated in college, dad. Not really, I don't know, there aren't that many single women that work at the radio station."

"That so? Anyone else?"

"No dad, I'm not seeing anyone and I'm not planning to."

"Alright fine. Just what's going on with you? I mean, you weren't exactly the most happy child in the world, but you're very disconnected now, we haven't talked in, I mean _really_ talked, in years. Why is that?"

"I don't know dad, what do you want me to say? I'm in a happy relationship? My job is great? I have tons of friends? We should go to a baseball game or something? Because no, Meg is probably dead, the radio station is really vapid and plays bad music, I don't have many friends, and I think baseball is stupid."

"Well thats something. That is the longest you've talked all day. Isn't there anything in your life that doesn't suck? Anything that you can talk about, without complaining?" _'I killed a guy named Preston Lanewala about two months ago in Minnesota, and got paid a ton of cash. It was really fun, big adrenaline rush trying to escape the guards he had at his house.' _

"I don't know. I got Genevieve a new cat toy the other day, she really loves it."

"Thats all? You got your cat a new toy?"

"Yes." Steve put a hand to his forehead, he gave up and turned on the radio.

Novak had to direct his father back to the flat, he didn't really know the city. It took another ten minutes to get there, but eventually they arrived back at the flat.

"Wait here, I'll be right back," Novak told Steve as he took the case with the guns back up to his apartment. He pulled out his key and slipped it in the lock, but there was something wrong. The door was already unlocked. He never left his flat unlocked, neither did Piper, especially after she watched some horror movie that scared her into keeping it locked. He pulled out one of the guns, and slowly pushed the door open ready to shoot anything that moved. He stepped into the flat, closing the door behind him. He tried to be as quiet as possible, taking a step forward, he glanced around the room looking for anything that might be out of place. Something hit his face. He tried not to react by shooting the ceiling. He quickly glanced up, seeing ketchup smeared on the ceiling in an unusual sigil. He studied it, and wiped the ketchup from his face.

"We meet again," Novak quickly took his eyes off the sigil, and put them on the man now standing before him.

"Dean Winchester."

"You remember me. I saw you leave Sam's apartment last week, I ran into you."

"I know. I remember."

"Do you know what that is?" Dean motioned for the sigil, changing the subject. Novak took a quick glance at he ceiling again, without taking his gun off of Dean. He had it aimed at the chest. But Novak wasn't the only one with a gun. Dean had one similar aimed at Novak's own chest. Neither of them flinching.

"No." He replied.

"That right there is a devils trap, you aren't going anywhere." He sounded very confident, with only the slightest bit of doubt. Novak glanced up again, then back at Dean.

"I do not understand."

"Try to leave from under the circle." Novak tilted his head to the side, giving Dean a funny look. Novak moved his footing and started walking horizontally from his original spot from the door, his eyes never leaving Dean, his gun never losing aim, Dean mirrored his motion in the other direction. Then Dean's eyes grew big with what looked like panic. Novak glanced up and saw that he had left the odd occult like circle, Dean seemed to have not been expecting this, took a step back. Dean regained his calm, and continued pointed his gun at Novak.

"What are you? You don't have to tell me, I came prepared for everything," he'd brought a silver knife, he'd grabbed some salt, and that was about it. Novak tilted his head again.

"I think you know."

"If you were what I thought you were, then that circle would have worked now wouldn't it?"

"I do not know what that circle is for, other than to ruin my apartment." Dean let out a small laugh. He kept his focus on Novak, watching for any sudden movements. They circled each other until Dean was the one with his back to the door, Novak was opposite him. They had their guns trained on each other. Dean was so focused on Novak, he wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to his surroundings. Genevieve leaped up on the counter, Dean swung his head around and faced Genevieve, taking his eyes off Novak for only a split second. Novak took advantage of this, having not been caught by surprise. Novak, at incredibly speed, pulled out a small knife from his jacket pocket and flung it through the air. The blade slammed into the door hardly 3 centimeters from Deans face, it looked like it'd gone almost all the way through the door. It didn't budge, it just stuck in the door vibrating from the throw. Dean's eyes widened as he saw the knife sticking out of the door. He turned to glance at Novak, only to realize Novak was no longer on the other side of the room, he was now mere inches away, his blue eyes staring directly into Dean's green ones. His pupils narrowed. His gun almost touching Dean's chest. Dean was starting to panic, the fact that Novak hadn't said anything yet, was a sign. Dean decided he should speak first.

"What are you? I know for a fact you're not human. You're clearly not a demon either, that devils trap would've have worked on even the most powerful demon." Novak tilted his head.

"Demons? What are you talking about? I may be an assassin, but I wouldn't go so far as to say I wasn't _human_."

"Don't play dumb, I was at the séance, I saw what you did."

"Séance?" He tilted his head again, he looked genuinely confused.

"Yeah, we used a psychic to find your location, that was two days ago. You practically destroyed everything in the house."

"You used a psychic to find my location? Gee, and people think I'm weird. Sorry to break this to you _Dean _but there is no such thing as psychics, and how would I _destroy _anything in some house I've never been to. I have to admit, I'm impressed that you were able to find me so quickly, but I would rather know how you really did it, then by _psychics."_

"Psychic. Singular. Not plural." Suddenly there was a knock on the door, followed by Steve's voice.

"Hey Jimmy, you ready to go to lunch?" Steve asked through the door.

"Jimmy?" Dean whispered.

"My father likes to call me that." Steve knocked again. "Just a second!" Novak yelled. "Dammit," he whispered. He couldn't shoot Dean, there was no way his father wouldn't hear that, plus the bullet my continue through and hit him. He couldn't really do that anyway, Piper would be back with his mother soon, they would probably be a bit concerned if they came back and found a dead body on the floor. Novak reached up and grabbed hold of the knife, jerking it out of the door. He sighed when he saw the mark it had left.

"Jimmy?" Novak scowled, stepped away from Dean, and put his gun back in his jacket.

"Can you please, just go hide in the kitchen or something? You can kill me later, or whatever." He whispered to Dean. Dean nodded and moved behind the counter in the kitchen. Novak walked over and opened the door, Steve walked in.

"So, did you find something you want to eat here, or are you ready to go out?" Novak glanced toward Dean, then at his shoes. He was at a loss. He couldn't let his father know about Dean, but he didn't really want to leave Dean Winchester in his apartment either. He figured if Dean was going to find anything he would've found it by now.

"Yeah, I know a good place." Steve walked out the door, and Novak mouthed 'Leave' to Dean. Dean shook his head 'No.'

"Something with work has come up, do you think after lunch you could go hang out with Piper and Mom for a little while?" He asked his father.

"Yeah sure I guess," Steve said from the hallway.

"I'll be back in less than an hour," Novak whispered to Dean, and motioned to his gun. Dean stood up. Crossed his arms and mouthed 'I'll be waiting.' Thats when Steve walked back into the room.

"It looks like it might rain, I'm going to grab my other coat-" He saw Dean standing in the kitchen.

"Who are you? Jimmy, what's going on?"


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Piper, Katherine, and Steve. I think.

Summery: AU. James Novak is a deadly assassin, hired to kill a student at Stanford: Jessica. Everyone thinks it is an accident, except Sam who saw him in the apartment, and swears revenge. Sam and Dean soon discover something Novak himself doesn't know, are Sam and Dean ready to go up against the ultimate hunt: an Angel.

AN: Okay sorry for the delay, I've been freakishly busy, and I've been out of town visiting relatives (my hotel had a really crappy computer) Sorry its kind of short, I was going to make this chapter much longer, but I'm being forced to give up the computer.

%%%

"Who are you? Jimmy, what's going on?" Steve Novak was standing in the door way staring at his son, and another man he didn't know standing in the kitchen.

"Uh, Dad," James Novak had to think quickly, if he said the wrong thing everything would fall apart. "This is Dean, we work together at the radio station." His father glanced at Dean, then back at James.

"Thats great, why is he here?" Novak took a silent deep breath, he was using at lot energy stabilizing his pulse and body temperature, keeping himself relaxed, he though better when he was relaxed.

"Well you see Dad, its just that, you and Mom came at such late notice, and with all the chaos going on, I had forgotten that I had actually made plans with Dean today." Novak put on the most realistic smile he had and motioned toward his enemy.

"Alright? So I infer you don't really have to go to work? Well I guess that Dean could come with us to lunch, I have been wanting to meet some of your friends." Steve relaxed, making the whole situation turn in his favor. Novak felt his heart rate increase, he didn't want his father, and the man who tried to kill him, together at lunch.

"Well actually Dad, Dean was here to pick me up, you know how I told you how I wasn't dating anyone right now? Well thats not entirely true."

"Him? You're dating him?" Steve's eyes widened.

"No, no, no! Dean has set me up on a blind date, he's taking me to meet the girl he thinks will be my wife one day."

"Oh good, well I'd love to meet her, where are you going?"

"Dad, I haven't even met her yet, I don't think it would be a good idea to take one of my parents to lunch for a good first impression, don't you think?"

"Very well, I see your point. I suppose I'll just go find Piper and your Mother and eat with them."

Novak looked up and saw the ketchup stained ceiling for a second time, with just as much shock as the first. He prayed that it didn't start to drip on to this father, he wouldn't know how to explain that one.

"So lets get going," Novak said, motioning his father to the hallway, and way from the weird sigil on the ceiling.

"Sounds great, I just know you'll love this girl," Dean agreed, going along with the lie.

Dean and Novak watched Steve get a cab and drive off to meet Piper and Katherine.

"You're a really good lier," Dean subtly said to Novak.

"So are you," Novak replied.

"So what, your Father has no idea what you really do?"

"Not a clue. I'd prefer to keep it that way if you don't mind."

"I don't. My war is against you, not your father, and honestly, I wouldn't want to be there if he ever found out." Novak let out a sarcastic laugh.

"Neither would I," he replied.

"So what is it then? What are you?"

"I'm an assassin, I assumed you already knew that. I had nothing against that girl, but someone did, and they paid me a ton of money to do their work for them. If I hadn't killed her that night, I'm sure someone else would have."

"You're probably right, but I don't think thats going to stop my brother from wanting to kill you."

"I know."

"I have the gun in my pocket pointed at you right now, so I would love it if you could just come with me without a fight right now. My car is over there, its the black Impala, I want you to go and get in the passenger seat."

"Very well," Novak said without showing a shred of emotion. They crossed the street and walked over to the Impala, Dean forced Novak in first, put the child lock on the door, and walked around to the other side.

"Well at least you didn't stuff me in the trunk," Novak stated.

"Why? What, you've been kidnapped before?" Novak looked over at Dean, his face saying all that needed to be said.

"I'm an assassin, I get put in bad positions more than I'd like, people don't usually take it very well when they learn you're there to kill them, kill someone close to them, or have _already_ killed someone close to them."

"And?"

"And I'm still here. They're not."

"That sounds like a threat," Dean stated. Novak looked at Dean, then back to the windshield. Dean sighed and pulled something out of his pocket, and used it to tie Novak's hands to the car door. It was the colorful plastic string ties that people often used in the movies, or just for regular things around the house, it was something you could get at any hardware store around the country, and it was surprisingly effective. The engine roared to life and they were off, driving back to the motel where Sam was still asleep.

"I just have one question. Sam had been in the room, but when it caught fire, he was in the hallway. How?" Dean questioned. Novak's gaze out the window failed to shift.

"I carried him out."

"Why?"

"In case you hadn't been listening, I was hired to kill Jessica Moore, not Sam Winchester. He wasn't supposed to be there."

"So you saved him?" Novak took his eyes off the window and turned to look at Dean.

"I suppose you could say that, but then again, I was the one who put him in danger in the first place. What does it matter? I assume your brother is fine."

"He is. Heartbroken. But fine."

"Just wondering, where exactly are we going?"

"Back to the motel Sam and I are staying at."

"Really? You're not dragging me to some CIA base or anything?"

"CIA?"

"You said that you found me by using a Psychic, sorry if I don't exactly believe you. I've gone though most of the possible scenarios, you working for the government being the most likely."

"Oh no, no, no, I most defiantly don't work for the cops or anything, so its not my fault if you don't believe the truth, its like in 'Back to the Future part 3' that girl wanted Doc to tell her the truth so Doc told that girl he came there in a time machine, but she figured he was a liar and thought he didn't love her or something, but he was really telling the truth. It wasn't his fault she didn't believe him."

"What, so that makes you an old crazy scientist and me the school teacher he fell in love with? Well thats just _great_, just for the record, I don't love you."

"Touche, probably not the best example."

"Really. But that doesn't change the fact that I don't believe in psychics, never have, never will, Shawn Spencer doesn't even believe in psychics, he just pretends to be one, he's good at observation so everyone thinks he's just a real psychic. What that makes you Juliet, the believer, and that makes me, Shawn, the guy who knows for a fact he's not a real psychic."

"So _Jimmy _you watch 'Psych' so that means you must know that everyone is just waiting for Jules and Shawn to start dating right?"

"That just proves we have something in common, we're both bad at examples, and we both make the other one out to be the girl."

"Whatever. You know what I mean though. Here we are." Dean grimaced.

"Then you must know that I can't proceed with you here."

"What?"

"I don't think your brother is going to take the fact that I killed his fiancée lightly, so if you don't mind, I'm going to go now."

"Yeah? How exactly are you going to do that?"

"You do realize that I saw you and your brother yesterday correct. Well, I knew you would eventually find me after that, so do you really think that I came unprepared for this confrontation?" Novak through his arms in the air, he'd had a knife hidden on an ankle holster beneath his jean leg, and he'd used it to cut his bonds. With the child lock on the door he wouldn't be able to open it. Before Dean could grab his gun, Novak already had the knife to his throat.

"Just because I don't want to kill you, doesn't mean I wont. Open the door and get out." Dean had no choice but to step out of the car. Normally he might have tried to wrestle away the knife, but with the limited area in the drivers seat, he knew he would have lost that battle.

"You can relax, I'm not going to steal your car or anything, its a really nice car, I'm going to take it and park it on the corner P St. NW and 30th St. NW, understand? It'll be fine. Now I would prefer to stay here, but I have arrangements that will allow me to pack up and leave whenever I please to where ever I please. I will gladly try to point you in the right direction to who hired me, I'm not sure, I just know that my boss gave me the job, we have this whole confidentiality thing going on so I'm not sure for certain, but I'd say that kid Brady or whatever looked like he might be the client. I can't be sure, but after doing this for a while I can usually pick them pretty well. I know whoever wanted Jessica Moore dead, knows her, so why don't you just start th-" Novak didn't even get a chance to finish his sentence as his whole world rushed to black.

%%%

James Novak fell over onto the car seat, unconscious. Dean was shocked, he hadn't done anything.

"Uh... Jimmy?" Dean took a step back from the car. He nearly jumped out of his skin when the back seat door opened and a bald man in a suit stepped out.

"Who the hell are you! How did you get back there!" Dean demanded, taking another step away from his beloved car.

"You must be Dean Winchester," the man said, ignoring Dean's questions. "My name is Zachariah, I'm Castiel's boss. You see Dean, it doesn't matter who killed Jessica or ordered the 'hit', she's not important, what's important is that you and Sam are on the right path. Jessica was just in the way, she had to go. So for the time being you and Sam are on your way to your destinies, so I wouldn't go against that. Now all you have to do is wait."

"What are you talking about? What are you?"

"Thats not important right now, everything will make sense in time. You wouldn't mind taking him home for me, now would you?"

"I'm not going anywhere until I get some answers. What are you? What is he? What do you mean our 'destinies?' There's no such thing."

"You just keep telling yourself that. Sam's not in there, he woke up about 20 minutes ago and went down the street to get some breakfast, or lunch I might say. I just need you to take Cas here back home, his _parents _should be back in about 2 hours so you have plenty of time." The man started to walk away in the opposite direction.

"I thought his name was James?" Dean yelled after him.

"He thinks that to," the man yelled back before disappearing into thin air.

Dean waited a minute before running over to the sleeping man in his car. He grabbed the knife out of his hand, and quickly searched for any other weapons hidden on his person. Finding two more knives, and a stretch of wire, Dean attempted to wake James/Castiel he wasn't sure who the guy really was.

"Hey! Wake up! Jimmy!" He checked for a pulse, finding one, he tried again. "Jimmy! Wake up!" He remembered Pamela saying Castiel at the seance, so he gave it a shot. "Castiel! Hey man wake up! Cas?" Castiel or Jimmy started to stir a bit, before slowly opening his eyes. He put a hand to his forehead, as if having a headache.

"What happened?" Novak questioned, as he slowly sat up. He barely made it to the upright position before Dean shoved him back down.

"What's going on 'Cas'? I swear to god you'd better get talking."

"Dean Winchester? What? I have no idea what you were talking about, wasn't I about to borrow your car or something? Damn my head. Wait. Did I pass out? Great, just great, I suppose thats a side effect or something, at least it didn't happen at the shooting range." Dean grabbed his shoulders and started shaking him back into focus.

"What are you?"

"What!" Novak yelled back, trying to mimic the volume Dean was using.

"Some guy just showed up, knocked you out, and started talking out all this destiny crap, he said he was your boss, _Cas, _so who is _Zachariah _why does he seem to think killing Jessica would lead me and Sam to our _destinies? _Just tell me what's going on!" Dean was trying to keep his cool, unsuccessfully.

"Well, Zachariah is my boss, he's the one who gave me the job in the first place. My name is James, not _Cas._ Now what are you talking about?" Cas/Jimmy seemed genuinely confused, Dean had to remind himself that his guy was practically a professional liar.

"He told me your name was Cas, not James or Jimmy, or whatever."

"Well its not. My name is James Novak." Novak had realized that he held no control over the situation, he weapons were gone, and Dean Winchester was much bigger and more muscular than he was, he figured as far as self preservation went, talking was the best plan.

"I'll ask again, what are you? You must understand I'm really trying to stay calm."

"What do you mean by that? Am I what? An artist? A techie? A bookworm? A coldhearted bastard? What?" Novak questioned harshly. Dean sighed.

"What species are you? Does that help?"

"Human! What are you!" Novak answered just as loud, if not louder.

"I don't believe you!"

"Well I don't know!"

Dean sighed, he was starting to think this guy truly didn't know what was going on.

"Dean?" Dean spun around.

"Sam."

"Uh, what are you doing?" Sam motioned to the fact that Dean was standing over some poor guy trapped in the impala.

"Uh. Sam. This is Cas, Cas you know my brother Sam."

"What?"

"Sam, Cas is who we've been looking for."

"My name is James!" Novak yelled, but went completely ignored.

"Wait. You mean?"

"He's the _assassin _who killed Jessica." Sam push Dean out of the way, and punch Novak straight in the face. Dean hadn't been expecting that, he thought that Sam was going to question the whole 'assassin' thing, but not full on attack the guy. Dean had to gather his thoughts as he realized Sam was still punching Novak.

"Sammy!" Dean grabbed Sam and pulled him away from Novak, who was barely conscious. "We have to talk about this, there's more to this whole Jessica thing then we know."

"What do you mean?" Sam was still throwing murderous glances toward Novak, who's blood was now staining the seats of Dean's precious Impala.

"Some guy showed up a little while ago, he was going on about all this destiny stuff, I know Cas here isn't human, but I don't think he knows that."

"Okay, lets bring the bastard into the room, I can make him remember."

"Sam. I don't know what we're getting our selves into, that weird guy, Zachariah, or whatever, told me to take Cas home."

"Fine, we'll take him _home _when we're done with him."

"Sam, if I'm thinking what you're thinking, then I am not taking a dead body back to that hot girl's place, what would she think if we just showed up with her dead brother?"

"I don't care," Sam almost hissed.

"Well I do. We need to know what he knows, but Sammy I don't know what he is, I used a devils trap on him, it did nothing!"

"So what! He's not a demon, we just take him back to Bobby's and I'm sure I'll find something that can kill him."

"Okay heres what we're going to do, we're going to through him in the back seat, drive to Bobby's and work something out okay?"

"Fine," Sam agree reluctantly. Sam and Dean both turned to where Novak had been laying passed out on the car seat and all that was there were a few drops of blood.

"He's gone." Sam stated, anger in his words.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I own nothing. You know what I mean...

Summery: James Novak, Castiel, is an assassin, who killed Jessica, blah blah blah, Sam wants to kill him, Dean thinks he could be a friend (I can't recall how to spell the word I was thinking of. Allie. Alli. Ally. Something like that) blah blah blah. You get the picture.

AN: Sorry I've got a ton of stuff going on right now. I'm playing the song Into the Mouth of Hell we March by Trivium to my entire class on Tuesday. I've been practicing like hell for a while. I need to play the pre chorus in like 27 seconds, and I've only got it in like 35. Sorry if there are a ton of misspellings, I'm afraid my fingers might start bleeding.

Nice reviews make me update faster :D Bad reviews or "flames"... Well you can just go away. Constructive criticism is fine, as long as its not super harsh and discouraging. Thanks :D

%%%

James Novak walked down the street quickly, not too fast, but not running either. He'd wiped up most of the blood from the nose bleed Sam Winchester had just given him, and he was trying his best to hide the limp he now carried. He pulled it off well. No one on the street gave him a second look. Blending in, he was something of an expert when he wanted to be. Novak tried not to think back to what had just happened, luckily he'd trained for this kind of things, making his body quite resilient. He can't however say he didn't see it coming. He would have to leave DC. Leave Piper. He would never leave Genevieve, he could easily take her with him where ever it was he decided to go. After getting a few punched to the gut and the face Novak's body was filled with adrenaline, his senses heightened. He was aware of everyone he walked pass, very car that drove by, all the surveillance cameras within 20 yards of his position. He was ready for whatever would come next. Police. CIA. NSA. Russian mob for all he knew. Although he doubted the Russian mob would have anything to do with the Winchesters, especially because Novak had many 'friends,' in Russia, in high places. The Italian mob maybe.

His father should be with Piper and his mother, so the flat should be empty, unless the Winchesters beat him to it. He couldn't risk staying here. They knew where he lived. They wouldn't just throw their arms in the air an say '_oh well, we tried, lets go_.' He knew that from experience. People like Sam Winchester would always prove to be sedulous. Sooner or later he was probably going to be fettered and castigated.

Novak approached a cart on the side of the road, it was one of those tourist things. The man at the stand was busy talking with a young couple. As Novak reached the stand, he didn't even blink, let alone slow, as he filched a tee shirt and a hat. No one even noticed. You could say Novak had a propensity toward criminal acts. He put the shirt on after the turned the corner. It was a light blue, and had the words District of Columbia Federal Bureau of Investigation printed on the front. Bit ironic. The hat was a a dark navy baseball cap with a small picture of the capital building. He looked like a ridiculous tourist, he actually hoped none of the strangers in his building saw him walk in. But a disguise was a disguise, either way.

The air was still cool, but at least the sun was out. He walked swiftly feeling the chilly air brush his skin. There was no one following him. He was headed in the direction of his flat, but it wasn't a direct route. He had taken several unnecessary turns, throwing off anyone who could be a tail. It took a long time to finally convince himself that no one had followed him. He would occasionally turn a corner, then sprint to the second turn. Not the first, that would be expected. He didn't however take too many of these side trips. He wanted to be efficient that he wasn't being followed, but he all so wanted to get back to his flat. What was the point of being followed if they already knew where you were going. When he reached his building he went in through the back, and practically ran up the stairs once out of sight from the street. After climbing several flights of stairs he finally reached his apartment. No longer having a weapon, he entered slowly, listening and watching carefully for any sudden movements that weren't his own, but he was also keeping an eye out for Genevieve. He quickly, but silently, searched the flat, then raced to his room. Genevieve was sleeping on the bed. Novak grabbed the cat carrying case that he kept in the closet. He through it on the bed, and scooped her up in his arms and placed her in the case. He pulled out an over night bag from under the bed and began to empty his drawers and closet into it. He pulled off the tourist tee shirt and hat he'd stolen, and through them in the bag to. As he was packing the bag he found a an old black Metalica tee shirt and red and white plaid button up shirt. He quickly up them on and folded up the sleeves on the flannel shirt. He grabbed a pair of dark sunglasses, they masked his bright blue eyes perfectly. Zipping up the bag, he put the strap across his shoulders and lifted the cat case. His black hair sticking in all directions, his shirts wrinkled, one shoe untied, he looked like a mess. James Novak was normally quite organized, and neat. Never messy. Then again, no one had ever shown up at his own place. Keys in hand, he shoved the door open and was about to head out to his car, but when he stepped into the hallway, he wasn't alone.

%%%

"How'd you find him?" Sam questioned. They were in the Impala driving down the street back to Novak's flat, both were looking around for the guy on sidewalks, they didn't think he could've gotten that far after the beating Sam gave him.

"I remembered him."

"So what? I remember seeing him and his sister in that hallway the other day to, but that make me think he killed Jess."

"No I mean, I've seen him before. When the apartment in Palo Alto exploded, I ran up there, but I was going so fast I knocked this guy down in the stairwell. That guy. I couldn't place it at first, but then those cops from the station called and said they got a really crappy description. But it was enough to spark the recognition."

"We've got him."

"Yeah, I guess.

"You don't seem nearly as happy about it as I do."

"Its not that, its just, I know the guy isn't human, but he doesn't really seem like something we usually hunt."

"Thats probably what he wants you to think. He's just playing you."

"Yeah, probably. I just feel a little sorry for the guy, he has no idea he's not human."

"Dean, he's a monster, I doubt he cares."

"You're probably right. Here we are." They parked and got out of the Impala and walked over to the stairwell.

%%%

"Mom. Dad. Piper. What are you guys doing back so soon?" That was all he could think to say. It must look bad. He had Genevieve in one arm, his car keys in another, and a bag filled with all his important stuff on his shoulder. His sunglasses slid down, revealing his eyes watching them with shock.

"James? What are you doing?" Piper spoke up, breaking the awkward silence that filled the air.

"I'm..." He had nothing. No lie could cover this up. If it was an emergency work trip, he wouldn't have Genevieve. He couldn't think of anything.

"There you are!" Everyone looked over to see an angry Sam Winchester storming down the hall, Dean following behind.

"What's going on Jimmy?"

Novak's eyes were wondering from Sam, to Dean, to his Parents, to Piper, constantly. Sam walked over, completely ignoring everyone else, grabbed Novak's shirt holding him still and punched him in the face. Katherine and Piper gasped, while Dean and Steve tried to pulled Sam off Novak and poor Genevieve.

"Sammy calm down!"

"Just give me a few minutes with him Dean! I'm gonna make him wish he was dead!" Dean and Steve didn't let go, Novak was on the floor protecting Genevieve.

"Who are you people? What do you want with my son!" Steve yelled, trying to get Sam's attention.

"Sam calm down, he's not going anywhere!"

Sam finally stopped struggling and started to relax, but never taking his death gaze of Jessica's killer. He stared down at Novak, and actually started taking in his appearance. The guy was fit, but not exactly muscular, or tall, he looked really young, sitting on the floor holding a plastic box, with a hissing cat.

"I'm Dean Winchester, thats my brother Sam." Dean spoke up, Sam and Novak were both hyper ventilating, Novak's arms were full, he couldn't fight back. Piper and Katherine's attention quickly turned to Novak. They ran over to him. Piper grabbed Genevieve and moved her out of the way.

"What did James do?" Katherine frantically asked the Winchesters. He must have done something to bring on this brutal attack.

"He killed my would-be fiancée." Sam shuttered.

AN: Shortest chapter ever, I know. Please please please review. Let me know if you don't like the direction I'm heading in, or if there is anything you want me to add (or just to say "=]" is nice to.) Better a short chapter, than no chapter. I guess.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I own nothing. You guys know the drill.

AN: Sorry! I'm sorry! This story has not been something on my mind lately. My mother is halfway across the country. My father is not in 'prison' exactly. I have to start thinking about college. I sure as hell can't write, I'm an artist. Taking the SAT next Saturday. I'm illustrating a book for a friend. I broke the law (it was minor) earlier today, no big deal, but still. The gas station across the street for my school exploded on Friday. And a ton of pressure is going on in ALL of my classes right now :'( Grrrrr.

I don't exactly remember where I was going with this, so I'm gonna change it up a bit I guess.

(Ziggymia123: Lol, thanks xD)

This was it. I was sitting on the floor, completely helpless, holding Genevieve in her cat box as Sam and Dean Winchester 'outed' me to my parents, my sister, everything was going wrong. Piper ran over and grabbed Gen out of my arms. Why was I on the floor? Why wasn't I getting out of the situation like I always did? I'm not just some guy who got in over his head. I'm a killer. Cold blooded sometimes. I'd killed several men, women, it didn't matter to me. I felt nothing. The voices in my head had just about completely silenced themselves. No one was going to help me. Not even the imaginary voices of my subconscious. Why didn't I just get up? I could take both Winchesters with one arm tied around my back. But I didn't. There was something about them that made me not want to bring them harm. It was an odd feeling. Unlike anything I had felt before.

"He killed my would-be fiancée" Sam shuttered.

There he'd said it. He'd told my family what I'd done. Well one of the things anyway. But that was enough. No one wanted to hear that they're child had murdered anyone. There was a long silence, but it was my mother who finally broke it.

"What! No! Our Jimmy wouldn't do something like that! He's a good boy! You've confused him with someone else!" She looked about ready to burst into tears.

"No. It was him. Cas, right? You set my flat in Palo Alto ablaze, burned Jess alive!" Sam hissed at me. I blinked a few time, my vision was starting to blur. Sam and my father were screaming at each other, Piper and my mother were hugging and crying. Dean. Dean was staring at me. He was standing directly in front of me. Just looking. Completely ignoring all the other commotion in the hallway. He squatted down to my height on the floor. Green eyes gazing into blue. I felt my body shiver.

"_Castiel. I don't understand why you're fighting *me* of all the angels." _

It was just a flash. An image of a man I didn't know. He felt familiar, his aura not his face. It was like I knew him. I was afraid of him. Dirty blond hair, pale unshaven skin with what looked like blisters on his cheeks. I was just about shaking uncontrollable now. My eyes wide with horror. I couldn't even place who the man was. But he terrified me. I didn't like thinking about him. I wanted the short scene to stop playing itself over and over in my mind. I was staring at Dean, but all I saw was the man. I felt my world sway backward and forward in what seemed like slow motion. It took me a moment to realize that there were two hands on my shoulders. Deans hands, but that didn't matter, it felt like the man. I was going into a deep catatonic state.

"_What a peculiar thing you are."_

I saw the blonde man say to me before sweet sleep took me over completely.

**31 Years Earlier**

I was standing in a circle. The flames shooting up around me. My throat filled with smoke. The circle was small, hardly a three foot radius, I couldn't outstretch my wings in the small space. I felt cramped, almost claustrophobic. The room I was in was dark. I had been surprised. Taken off guard by the sudden attack. I'd been wondering aimlessly through the park of a small town, watching over the humans that lived near by. Calmly passing through as I always did, it was my job. I'd felt something off, an uneasy presence. I'd been looking around curiously trying to decipher exactly what it was that I sensed. Thats when he showed up. Lucifer, my fallen brother. Lucifer had always been there for me. He was my friend. My big brother, I'd looked up to him. He was usually with Gabriel and Michael, but he took the time to be a part of my life. Of all my thousands of brothers, Lucifer cared about me. But then he'd changed. He'd gotten angry. He started fights with the other angels, began to rebel against the father. I wanted to follow him. But then he'd be cast out. So when I saw him in the park I didn't know what to think. I was glad to see him, but I didn't want to disobey orders. I did the stupid thing. I smiled, ran over, and hugged him, it'd been a while since I'd last seen him. So I'd be shocked when I felt his fist collide with my face. Lucifer was much stronger than me, he was very powerful, I was weak against him. I'd been out cold almost instantly. I woke up lying on the ground surrounded by holy fire, my brother in the corner of the room, watching me.

"What? Lucifer what's going on? Where are we?" I put my hand up to my face where he'd hit me, I could feel the blood.

"Don't worry, everything is fine Cassie, we're somewhere safe." He spoke in a calm gentle voice, it was almost soothing, but I could something almost devious in his voice.

"No! Why am I in a circle of holy fire? Why did you hit me?"

"Castiel, I don't understand why you're fighting *me* of all the angels."

"I'm not fighting you brother, I just don't understand what's going on! Where are we? Why did you kidnap me?" I blinked and the next thing I knew he was standing directly in front of me, still on the other side of the fire but he seemed mere centimeters from my face.

"I told you Castiel, we're somewhere safe, somewhere where the other angels wont find us, and maybe I just wanted to spend some time with you." He reached up and I felt his hand caress my bruised cheek gently, I flinched and was about to pull away when he placed his hands on my shoulders and held me in place. I couldn't move. My eyes widened and my breathing increased. Being an angel I didn't even need to breath, but it was a defense mechanism left over from my vessel. He had this look on his face, something I hadn't seen before, it frightened me. It was predatory. Something I'd seen on demons who attacked me without knowing what I was. I hadn't even noticed my entire body shaking in fear.

**Present**

"Jimmy!" Everyone was crowded around me when I came back to reality. I practically jumped awake. I had to catch my breath quickly to prevent myself from screaming. A few of the neighbors had opened their doors to see what all the yelling was from.

I tried to pull myself up, but I felt a hand on my chest pushing me back down. This wouldn't do. I couldn't stay here. Not with the Winchesters. Not with my family. Not with anyone, all I wanted to do at that very moment was run. Just run. Nowhere specific. Just running for the heck of running. I'd never felt this way before.

"Leave me alone," I coughed. Sam Winchester was still giving me murderous glares, but they seemed less intense now.

"Son, what's going on, is what these boys talking about true? Did you kill that girl? Tell me the truth." Steve asked me. I looked up, staring him in the eye for a moment before I began to nod. It was like I was a child again.

"I was hired to." Dean didn't react, Sam looked slightly angrier, and my parents and Piper almost burst into tears.

"But... But I don't understand," Piper whispered. "You work at the radio station, why would someone pay you to kill a girl?"

"Don't do that," I said " don't act like you're surprised, you've know I didn't work there for a long time now. You knew I'd lied about where I'd been. I was in California, doing my _job_."

"Your _job?_ Your _job _involves killing an innocent girl?" Sam hissed.

"Well, someone wanted her dead for a reason, I was indifferent, if I hadn't done it someone else would have." Sam knew I was right, he knew that just because I'd killed her didn't mean that I'd murdered her. I was the one who'd committed the deed, but someone else had been calling the shots, ordering the hit.

"Is there any way you can find out who hired you?" Dean asked.

"Zach would know." Dean nodded.

"Okay, one more question, what just happened? You just had some kind of freak out, ya' know?" I looked away. I wasn't going to answer, he knew that. Sam reached behind him, and the next thing I knew I had a gun pointed between my eyes. I sighed, I'd known this was coming. You only last so long in my profession. My mother and sister began to freak out, the few neighbors there wide eyed, my father was being held back by Dean. Sam was going to do it. It made sense. He deserved to put a bullet in my brain. I sighed again, and closed my eyes. I heard the gun cock, everything had slowed down, I pictured the blonde man, his dark eyes staring into mine.

"_Castiel."_

My name felt odd rolling off his tongue, it made me want to shutter.

"_It's all going to be fine soon."_


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural, or any televised program.

AN: I really should be studying for the SAT right now :P Or maybe doing my late German homework xP Sorry, I'm trying to make up for not updating for a while, this entire thing just sort of slipped my mind entirely. My bad.

%%%

**31 Years Earlier**

I couldn't bring myself to stop. I just kept screaming. I could feel blood dripping down the face of my vessel. I hadn't wanted to give him the satisfaction, but eventually he'd broken me, in that sense. I'd tried to hold the screaming in, keep it bottled up, but everyone breaks, its only a matter of time. He'd been at it for a while, my lungs were soon to give out to the point where I would become physically unable to scream, only able to whimper at the pain. I felt the arch angels blade slice my skin, the warm red liquid spilling over onto the floor into the pool of blood that had formed what seemed like days earlier. Another scream broke through my lips. The bright white feathers of my wings had long since been stained a deep red. I felt as if every bone in my body was broken, as if every blood vessel slit, the pain was almost unbearable. It wasn't going to stop. I could stop it whenever I chose, all I had to do was say yes, join my brother's rebellion. I knew I wouldn't be able to hold out forever, because no one was coming to save me, I'd be here trapped in this room with him until I give in. We both knew that I wasn't going to last much longer.

"Lucifer, stop please," I begged, tears streaming down my face, mixing with the blood on my cheeks.

"I'm sorry baby brother, but you know I can't do that, not yet," He whispered, before cutting again. I wanted the pain to end, but I wasn't willing to give up everything I'd been brought up to, all of my morals, ethics, beliefs. But at the same time I knew if it he didn't stop soon, all of those things wouldn't matter anymore, stopping the pain will have taken over my entire being.

**Present**

It was all over in an instant. Sam's finger on the trigger. The bullet leaving the barrel. My body slumping on the floor motionlessly. A trail of red fallowing me on the way down. Utter silence. Then cries. Screams. My mother fainted. My father watched me through shock induced eyes. Piper made a run for the bathroom to vomit up her lunch. Some neighbors running back inside their flats, trying to reach the phone and call the police. Others slipping to the floor in horror. Most were in complete utter shock, unable to contemplate what had just occurred. Sam Winchester had just put a bullet in my brain. Dean was looking away, down the hall, pulling on Sam's sleeve, telling him they should go. No one was going to stop them. They both had guns. Sam had just proven that they had no problem with ending a life. Fear is a good reinforcement. Nobody was going to stick their necks out to stop two men who'd just killed a murderer. There was blood and brain matter all over my face. A hole in between my eyes. I was dead. The feel of being covered by blood seemed familiar to me. As I lay there memories began to surface. Things that didn't happen, couldn't have happened. It was like a dream. The blond man and I. I wanted to get up, I wanted to scream, I wanted to reject the thought of that man, but I couldn't bring myself to move. I was dead. Perhaps this was the denial stage of grief. I was there. I was thinking. But I wasn't there. I had no pulse, no breath, no sign of life because there wasn't any.

I was in the hallway, but then my world started to drift away and I wasn't. Was this hell? If anyone deserved to be there, it was myself. I was in a dark room, filled with blood, surrounded by fire. With _him_. I was watching myself die, this was a memory, but it couldn't have happened. I saw my mutilated body surrounded by the fire on the other side of the room, if this had happened I would have had scars. Right? I would have been in the hospital for months recovering, at the least. Perhaps I'd seen it in a movie when I was younger. But it all seemed so real. I swallowed, either this was all in my imagination, or this must be hell. I'd always pictured hell to be made up of flames, or maybe ice, like the Divine Comedy. Sure looking at myself lying on the floor dry heaving blood then thrown into unconsciousness was not something pleasurable, but it wasn't so horrible that I couldn't take it. I wouldn't have really cared at all if it hadn't been for the blonde man crouching over my other self. I was unsure of what I was doing. I was acting still, trying not to move, I didn't want the man to see me standing there. He scared me. Unlike anything had ever scared me before. I saw him holding a knife. It was covered with my other self's blood. I'd seen plenty of knives, I'd used plenty of them before in situations myself, but never for torture like this. But just the short glimpse of this knife put my teeth on edge. I had to concentrate on not hyperventilating as to alert him of my presence. But it didn't matter, he looked up anyway. He looked directly at me. His eyes were piercing. His face frowning, but it slowly turned into a smirk as he stared at me. I involuntarily took a step back as the man stood. He didn't make a move toward me, he just stood there staring, smirking. I hadn't realized it but I'd taken _several _steps back, the only indication to tell me so was my back hitting the cold concrete wall. I wanted to look for exits, to run, but I couldn't take my eyes off the man. I felt as if I looked away for but a moment he would have moved. So I stood there paralyzed with fear, backed as far against the wall as I could. The silence was terrifying in its self.

"Hi," the blonde man whispered, in a surprisingly calming voice. His facial expression changed to sorrow. I couldn't bring myself to say _anything_, I didn't _want_ to say anything. He saw this.

"How are you?" He asked me, he took the moment to take a step toward me. It was a small step, but it was enough to send tears down my cheeks. Crying was an odd sensation. I'd never really done it before in my entire life, but watching the man get slightly closer to me, was making me regress to child-like actions. I had no idea why. I didn't know him. I should have had no reason to be afraid like this. The blonde man saw my reaction and took a step back.

"You wouldn't mind telling me where you are, would you?" He asked. I couldn't stay silent like this, if I did he might want to try a different way to get me answer his questions, and I preferred this cross room discussion to anything else my mind came up with.

"I'm... I'm right here," I whispered, my voice sounding more child-like than it had even when I _was_ a _child. _"This is hell isn't it? I'm dead." Then he did something I didn't expect. He laughed.

"No, no, no. You're not dead Cassie, you're dreaming, you're body needs to heal." I blinked.

"I was shot in the head," I stated coldly, still in a fear induced whisper.

"Don't worry, you're fine, you're in a sort of... Coma state I suppose. Can you tell me where you were when you were shot Cas?" His voice still calm.

"I... I'm outside... outside my flat. In... In the... the hallway." Then I had a though, out of pure curiosity "who's Cas?" I asked plainly. He tilted his head and gave me an odd look, as though he was confused I'd asked. "Who... Who are you?" He looked down, upset

that I didn't know. Then he took another step forward, I flinched and turned my head the other way.

"You don't remember?" He asked me, his voice gentle, yet louder somehow, I turned to look. I almost collapsed then and there, his face mere inches from mine. He reached out and grabbed me to stop my falling over. I heard a loud scream, and his hands left my body, it took me a moment to realize that it had been me screaming. When he seemed to get taller I noticed that I was now sliding down to the floor, my back still pressed against the wall.

"Cassie, this is just a dream, I can't hurt you here, I _wouldn't_ hurt you." If the room hadn't been silent I would have missed him whisper the words _"again." _I couldn't stop the shutter that sent down my spine. His small proximity to myself was making breathing difficult. I put my head down and pulled my knees up to my chest wrapping my arms around them. I could feel my body shake.

"Please Cas, just tell me where you are."

"What does it matter?" I whispered, the consternation in my voice thoroughly exposed.

"I just want to make sure you're all right, I promise," he reached to place a hand on my shoulder, but decided against it as I looked up with tears streaming down my face.

"D.C." I stated, thinking there was no point, I didn't believe him. I'd been _shot_ in the head, directly between the eyes, there was no going back from that.

"Thank you, Castiel," he hummed. He moved and sat down next to me, back to the wall. I didn't know how long we sat there, but it seemed like ages. The silence was deafening, my intense breathing was the only sound encasing the room.

"Its time for you to go now," the sound of his voice shook me out of my trance. _Go where? _I thought. He seemed to have read my very thoughts when he answered "D.C." I looked over at him, but there was no one there. I was alone. The lights seemed to be fading. I tried to push myself up using the wall, but when I tried I only found that the wall I had been leaning upon was now gone as well. I was in complete and utter darkness now. I felt my heart begin to beat uncontrollable, as though I was having a panic attack. I _almost_ screamed when I felt something touch my face. I was afraid he was here, hidden by darkness, but thats not what I felt, it felt like plastic. I wasn't standing anymore I was laying, there was what seemed like plastic completely covering my body. I didn't move, I didn't flinch, I stayed perfectly still, I could hear voices near me. They were close. They were very close. Luckily none of them were him. The voices were unfamiliar to me. In the distance I could hear a siren. It reminded me somewhat of an ambulance. There was the faintest sent of copper. Suddenly I felt myself get lifted off of the ground, it took everything I had not to react. It felt like I was being carried. Thats when it hit me. I was in a body bag. The siren wasn't an ambulance, it was the police, and I was being carried to the coroners truck. Panic overcame me. What was happening? I was breathing, and I could feel my heart racing. But I'd been shot right? I slowly maneuvered my arm up to my head, I slowly placed my hand on my forehead. My face was wet and sticky, the bag had smelt like copper, but I hadn't given it much though, until now. I took a deep breath and lowered my hand to the place the whole should have been. My mouth opened and my eyes widened as I felt nothing there but more blood. No hole. Was I dead? I was more confused than I'd ever been in my whole life. I _felt_ alive. But was _feeling_ alive and _being_ alive the same thing? Was it a miracle? Had everything I just went through been a horrible hallucination?

I felt myself get placed carefully in the back of the coroners van. Someone stepped into the back with me and close the doors. I heard two others get in the van up front, one of them, the driver, started the engine and slowly pulled out. I was about to unzip the bag and make a run for it when I heard one of them strike up a conversation with the other two. About me.

"They said he was some kind of murderer or somethin'." Said Person 1.

"Really?" Replied Person 2.

"Yeah, the family was too busy cryin' to say anythin' but the neighbors said the dudes who done killed him were gettin' revenge or somethin' for someone he murdered." Said Person 1.

"Well then serves him right, he got what he deserved, I say was leave his killers be." Said Person 3.

"I think they shouldn't have killed him, they should have just gone to the police and gotten him life in prison or something." Said Person 2.

"What it the cops ain't got no evidence, he would've just gotten away with it." Said Person 1.

"Bad things happen everyday, but you shouldn't have to resort to murder. Its bringing you down to their level." Retaliated Person 2.

"If this guy killed someone close to you, and got away with it, would you _really_ just let it go?" Person 3 spoke up.

"I suppose you're right," Person 2 surrendered. I had to get out of here. The hospital was very close, and thats where the coroners was. I hadn't decided whether I wanted to get out now and make a run for it, or if I wanted to wait until I was inside the hospital. I should wait. I didn't want to get locked in a freezer, but I didn't want to make a run for it only to get shot down, and actually _killed _that time. I would try my luck with the coroners.

I felt the van slow to a stop, and drive and passenger in the front got out, they walked around and opened up the back doors where I, and the other man, were. Soon I was lifted again, and placed on to was seemed like a gurney. They began wheeling me inside. The second they left me alone, I would be gone. There was no hole in my skull. No cut. No nothing. Only a ton of blood soaking my clothes. This couldn't be just a miracle. I had to find Sam and Dean Winchester.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: At this very moment it _is_ Saturday, but the thing is not letting me upload this, Error 2 or something... Alright, I know its _now _Monday, I'm sorry :'( But i've finally found a way around the whole error 2 thing, so I realize this chapter is short so on Sunday I'm gonna post a REALLY REALLY LONG chapter to make up for this, I'd do it sooner except I was unfortunately signed up to work the light board at school for the fashion show (immediately after school until somewhere between 9:30 and 11 at night, every night this week, so I'm not gonna work on it until Friday when the show is done) Apparently I'm the only one the tech teacher trusts :P I hate my seniority (tech 3) position sometimes.

%%%

"What do you want to do?" Dean asked. He and Sam were sitting in the Impala. The police were outside Novak's flat. They watched the coroner carry the body out to the ambulance so that he could be taken to the morgue. Sam didn't say anything. When he'd pulled the trigger that was it, the guy just died. They'd gone up against all kinds of things, but he'd never killed any of them with just a simple bullet like that. Both he and Dean had been expecting the bullet to either bounce off or have no effect what's so ever. Yet they were wheeling the guy out in a body bag. It hadn't really seemed like a big deal at first, killing a human, yet now here he was, watching the family breaking down in front of the police. He started to feel guilt. The sister was exactly how he'd been, but probably worse off. He'd killed her human brother right in front of her. He regretted it. He regretted it more than anything he'd ever done before.

"Let's go back to Bobby's." He almost whispered. Dean simply nodded and started the engine.

"I'm going to call him, let him know we're coming." Sam pulled out his phone an began to dial. Bobby picked up after a few rings.

"Bobby, hey its Sam, we're coming back."

"That was fast, what was Castiel anyway?" Sam took a deep breath before answering.

"Human."

"What? Are you sure!" Bobby sounded much more alert now.

"I put a bullet in his head Bobby, he died instantly."

"Again, are you sure? Where's the body now?"

"The police are taking him to the morgue."

"Well you two idjits better follow 'em, an' check." Sam sighed.

"Okay, will do." He hung up. "Dean, Bobby said we need to follow the ambulance to the hospital and make sure the guy's really dead." Dean didn't say a thing, he just turned the car around and began to drive to the hospital.

%%%

It seemed to take forever, but the doctors finally left, they'd put me in a cold room, which I could only assume to be the morgue. I waited a moment before pulling a knife out of my sock and ripping the body bag open. I took a huge gasp of air and pulled myself out. The room was a boring gray color, I looked over and saw another body laid out on the table next to me. I didn't look around much more than that except when I was looking for a new shirt. I didn't need a mirror to tell me my shirt was ruined. As I searched the drawers and closets I tried to sort out what had happened. Clearly the Winchesters wanted it to look as if I was dead. I doubted that I really had to look for them, but they would be looking for me. They must have had a paintball gun or something, hit me with fake blood and something to knock me out, giving the appearance of death. That was the only logical solution that I could think of, and I wasn't going to sit around and wait for them to come back. Finally, in what seemed to be the last cabinet I hadn't looked in, I found a buttoned up formal shirt, a black blazer, and white lab coat. It must belong to the coroner, their back up clothes, it must be hard to keep clean in their line of work. I quickly changed, throwing my 'blood' stained clothes into the biohazard trashcan as I walked out. Act as if you own the place and nobody will ever question you, that is exactly what I did. I stepped into the elevator pushed the lobby button. How was I supposed to go home now? I still needed to get Genevieve and all of my things. If I was lucky my stuff might be in evidence, it would be much easier to steal it there than try and go around my family. I couldn't just walk up and say "hey guess what! I'm alive!" They'd probably all die of shock. Or better yet maybe they were being interviewed by the police, I could easily go in, grab my stuff and Genevieve, get to my car and high tail it out of the state. I had a place set up in Rostock Germany, that would be perfect, I'd always wanted to move there. My German was nearly as good as a native speaker's. But it would be hard to get my car there, I'd have to leave it behind. That would be difficult, but not impossible.

I stepped out of the elevator and tried to remember which way we had come to get there in the first place. I couldn't recall, but instead tried to read the signs. After wondering around hopelessly lost for at least ten minutes I 'd finally found the way out. I stopped dead in my tracks. They were here. Sam and Dean Winchester walked in through the sliding doors, they looked around for a moment, they were here for me, but I wasn't going to let them find me. I was of course curious as to why they'd faked my death, but I decided whatever reason it was, wasn't a good one. I turned around and made a sharp left into Radiology. I started out the small window on the door and waited a moment for them to walk past.

"Can I help you Doctor?" I spun around quickly and saw that I was in fact standing in a waiting room for Radiology patients, everyone in the room was staring. Clearly I was being egregious. So I made a rash decision.

"Hallo, ich heiße Doktor Schmidt, ich bin hier zu Doktor Jones treffen, in Onkologie? Wo is das?" I told her I was Doctor Schmidt, the English equivalent to Smith, here from Germany to meet with a Doctor Jones in Oncology. As I expected no one there spoke German so I simply smiled, said that's ok, and left. Sam and Dean were gone, but they wouldn't be for long, they'd quickly find I wasn't in the morgue, so they would ask a doctor about it, they would be confused, and the police would get involved. Yet this was my chance to get the upper hand on them. I still had a knife. They wouldn't be expecting me to come up behind them with it. I began to make my way back downstairs cautiously. Eventually I arrived, they weren't there, but I'd only barely made it there before them, I heard the elevator doors opening, I ducked behind a medical cart and waited for them to pass me by once again, but this time I wasn't going to just sit there. I held my knife in my hand, I had to question them, they'd planned this, they probably worked for the blonde man in my dream. They didn't want me dead, but they had plans, they'd come back here for me, maybe they were trying to take me to him. I wouldn't let that happen. I may have been smaller than both of them, but I could still take them. I took a deep breath and leapt from my hiding place just as they walked past.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING.

AN: Okay so, this is either my longest or second longest chapter :D Sorry I haven't been updating, and when I finally do it hasn't been very long, so I'm trying to make up for it. I added in a few Red Dwarf quotes, cause I just love that show. Mind all miss spellings, I tend to write the word "be" when I mean to write "been" so watch out for that one.

Warning: Bad language - The Catcher in the Rye is rubbing off on me- and mentions of rape, and other violent things. Nothing explicit, 'cept the language.

%%%

I jumped out from behind the cart, almost completely silent. I was about to pull my knife up to Sam Winchester's throat. Arm in mid swing. Knife gripped tight. But thats when I saw it. Was that Sam and Dean Winchester? No of course not. Just my luck. Two men in lab coats were walking by. Luckily I'd barely had enough time to hide the knife behind my back, but I hadn't enough time to actually stop my body from slamming into one of them. I didn't hit him hard enough to fall down, but hard enough to alert them both of my presence. The German bit wouldn't work this time. It was clearly not accidental, I'd been hiding, and I'd jumped out at them. Fuck. There were two of them, and older and a younger. The younger was still my senior by at least 10 years, he had blonde hair. The older one didn't have much hair at all really.

"Young man, you know you're not allowed to be down here?" The older one asked, but it was more of a rhetorical question. I decided to play dumb. I stared at my shoes and nodded slowly. He sighed.

"What's your name?" He asked again, actually meaning it this time. I stared at him for a moment, eyes blank, I tilted my head to the side as in confusion, then I looked away up at the ceiling.

"Is something wrong? What exactly are you doing down here?" The younger blonde one asked. I didn't like him. His hair reminded me of the blonde man that I despised so much.

"Demons." I replied, not looking him in the eye. But sounding as serious as I could. This was where my improvisation lessons that I took in the eighth grade might come in handy. The Doctors would think I was simply lost from the psychology department.

"I'm sorry?"

"Demons started the apocalypse."

"The apocalypse?" The older one asked. The two exchanged glances. I nodded. Finally the younger one asked.

"Are you lost son?"

"Lost? Why? Do you think I'm crazy?" I didn't give him the chance to respond "If there's one thing I can't stand, it's crazy people." I tilted my head once again. I really should have thanked my mother for forcing me to take those classes.

"Don't you think you should get back to your room?" Good.

"I can't, the potato king won't let me. I begged him. I went down on my knees and wept. He wants to keep me here... Keep me here for ten years." The men exchanged glances again. The older one put his hand on my shoulder, and tried to get me walking the other way toward the elevator.

"Why don't we go see him then," the older one said, trying to play along.

"See who?" I questioned. I may have missed my calling.

"The potato kind of course," this wasn't his area of expertise, he just wanted to get me back to my _doctor._

"Do you have a magic carpet?"

"Yes, the magic carpet," he motioned toward the lift, "will take us to the potato king."

"Let me get this straight. You wanna fly on a magic carpet to see the king of the Potato People and plead with him for my freedom, and you're telling me you're all completely sane?"

"Uh.. Yes. That is exactly what I'm saying, lets go now,"

"But... Mr. Flibble is very cross!" I pleaded. This was kind of fun, I had to admit.

"Mr. Uh... Flibble?"

"Yes. Mr. Flibble." The younger Doctor walked me into the elevator, and the older one leaned over and whispered "Is there a Doctor Flibble here?" The younger one shrugged, and whispered back "you know how this crazy people are, they make stuff up in their heads." I began to make an annoying clicking noise with my mouth, just to mess with them. They were taking me up to the psych ward, so unless the Winchesters were pressing the elevator at that very moment, I should be good to go. As the elevator passed the lobby, I smiled to myself. Sure I hadn't surprised the Winchesters, but I hadn't been caught by the two doctors, so I supposed that was an up. I wanted some answers, and I wasn't going to stop until I got them.

**%%% Dean's Perspective %%%**

Sam and I walked up to the hospital, we had two duffle bags with suits in them so that we could pass our selfs off as FBI agents, we just need to change first. We went in the first bathroom we could find, and put on the suits, combed our hair, all that stuff before walking up to the front desk. It only took a few minutes to get completely ready. We both walked up to the desk and pulled out our _badges _simultaneously, as if we had years of experience with these kind of things, which we did.

"Hello, my name is Special Agent Simon Wright, this is my Partner Brian Johnson, can you direct us to the morgue please." The women at the desk stared a moment, she reminded me of that receptionist from Dead Like Me, her name was Crystal or something. After what seemed like hours she finally pointed the way, but without taking her eyes off of either of us, it was really creepy. I sort of shoved Sam a bit so that we could get out of there faster. If I hadn't known better I'd say we should have been hunting her, not some dorky white _dead_ dude from DC. Anyway, it didn't take too long to find the morgue, all hospitals are alike. Plus there were signs an stuff.

"Aw shit," I cursed as I saw that we'd only just missed the elevator, and we'd have to wait for it to come back.

**%%%Cas'/James' Perspective%%%**

The elevator stopped on the correct floor and the two doctors led me out into the hallway. For a hospital, the elevator was quite slow and my patience was wearing thin. So far I'd managed to do an excellent job at pushing all thoughts of the blonde man to the back of my mind, but there was an odd curiosity pulling at me conscious to keep going and look into it.

"Is your doctor, Mr. Flibble?" The eldest questioned. I once again tilted my head to the side, giving him the most innocently confused look I could possibly muster.

"Why do you say that? Mr. Flibble is a penguin of course, anyone who knows him would have known that. The last time I checked, penguins couldn't be doctors." I twitched, turned my head in another direction, and started talked as if there were someone right in front of me. I was ambivalent about thinking of the blonde man, I wanted to, yet I didn't. Also I kind of wanted to get into this whole 'crazy' thing, it was one of the only truly fun things I'd done in a long while. I was planning on bursting out into the song "Safety Dance," soon. I would have done it, I swear. But I didn't get the chance. Dr. Urso, the man who'd helped me when I fell into a coma not long ago, was standing not ten feet away. He had his back to me. I really doubt he would have even notice me at all had the two doctors I was with, not called for him.

"Doctor Urso, can you help us, we found this guy wondering around downstairs, we figured he was one of yours." He turned around, and then gave a sudden surprised look when his eyes met mine.

"Uh, yes, thats James Novak, he's my patient. I wasn't expecting to see you today Mr. Novak, I thought you would call first if you needed anything?" I shrugged and walked toward him. He nodded and said.

"Lets talk in my office shall we." Rhetorical question.

When we entered the office, he closed all the blinds. Dark and somewhat isolated places never bothered me before, but this one was putting my teeth on edge. Not to mention that Dr. Urso just happened to be blonde.

"What's on your mind James?" I wasn't going to say anything, I was just going to BS the whole bit, and just get my ass out of there, but then again, hey the guy's a psychiatrist, maybe I could actually get something out of this.

"The past week -lie- I've been having some sort of nightmare -or memory- about this man, I don't really know who he is, but he's someone I trusted, and I think he may have betrayed me. Its all I can really think about." Dr. Urso sat down at his desk and motioned me to the couch in the corner. I knew he was probably busy, so I appreciated that he was sitting down with me like this without an appointment, its not like I could have planned to get 'shot' in the head today.

"So the man feels familiar, like you've known him for years?"

"Feels like years." He nodded.

"What is happening in the dream?"

"I dunno, he's saying he's not going to hurt me and he just wants to know where I am so that he can find me, I 'dunno, random crap like that. Its creepy. I can tell he's lying, there is blood everywhere in the room."

"Okay, try to ignore his physical image, and try to think about his personality, does he remind you of anyone you know? Perhaps your father, or an uncle, maybe a _brother_? Try to close your eyes, it will help you think clearer." I shifted in my seat, an unconscious show of anxiety. I was nervous. The feeling of nervousness and anxiety was foreign to me. I didn't like it. I was alone in a dark room with a blonde man, just like in the dream. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, trying to keep all of my other senses as sharp as I could get them.

"No nothing like that, he just seems familiar, like he used to be really close or something. Isn't there like some kind of science behind all this dream stuff?"

"Well, you said he wanted to find you? Keep you safe. Maybe, thats all he wants, its like perhaps he lost you somehow. Your sister told me you were adopted at a young age, could it be he is someone from before you were with your family?"

"No. I was just a baby when I was adopted, I couldn't have remembered anything."

"Oh," he replied. I could hear him moving closer to me.

"Couldn't it just be my subconscious trying to tell me something, I dunno, you're the doctor." I still had my eyes closed, but he was getting a little too close for comfort, if I wanted to reach out and touch him it wouldn't have been so hard, I could almost feel his breath on my skin. It was unnerving.

"Well Cas, can you tell me anything else you remember about the dream?" The moment I heard the name 'Cas' escape his lips I could feel my heart rate escalate dramatically, I felt panic over come my body and mind. Castiel. That was what people kept calling me wasn't it? I quickly thought back to the sound of his voice, it had sounded normal at first but it had been slowly changing, I hadn't even really noticed until now, trying to compare how he sounded when I had walked in and how it sounded now. I was afraid to open my eyes. I swallowed. I could feel sweat beginning to form on my forehead. I slowly willed my eyes to open.

His face was not three inches from mine. Blue eyes stared into blue eyes. I held my breath. The man standing before me was _not_ William Urso.

I was about to start hyperventilating. I didn't even know who the man was, but he struck fear into my heart. My cold bloody heart. I could have sworn it was skipping beats at this point. He didn't even look frightening. He had a somewhat loving look on his face. But at this point, pinned up against a couch, in a dark, isolated office, do you really think I cared. I squinted my eyes and started to get up, I can honestly say, I must have looked really pathetic, I hardly got a few inches off the couch before he pushed me back down, this time moving even closer into my personal 'bubble.' I tried closing my eyes, you know the whole, I can't see him, he can't see me, thing, even though that'd already been proven to not work, plus it was stupid.

"Oh Castiel, its been so long." He sighed again, I felt a shock wave though out my entire body as I felt him touch my cheek. My eyes still squeezed shut, I turned my head as far away as I could. I took a deep breath.

"I don't know you," I forced out through clenched teeth.

"But you do, little brother. It's been a long time." He calmly placed his hand on my stomach as to hold me in place or something creepy like that, I was probably in shock, I couldn't force myself to move an inch anymore. I just sat there breathing as hard as I could, my eyes slammed shut, my head turned away. I could hear a whimpering noise in the distance, I had thought it was just the air conditioner or something, but when I finally noticed the pain in my vocal chords I realized it was me. I could actually feel my body temperature rising. I never thought I would actually want Sam and Dean Winchester to _find_ me, but at this very moment, I was praying they hurried up.

"You're upset to see me." He took his hand off me and took a few steps back. "I knew you would be, even if you don't remember me yet."

I let myself relax a bit now that his body wasn't physically touching me any more. But it didn't really matter. I didn't even know the guy and this was what happened when I was just in the same room with him for hardly five minutes. Although it seemed like much longer.

"Dr. Urso?" I asked, whispering, still not looking at him. When he didn't answer I looked up, as much as I didn't want to, I saw he was motioning to the desk. I had no control of my body so it was clear I wasn't going to be getting up. But in the dark I could still see a small red black pool of liquid on the floor by the corner of the desk. I'd dealt with dead bodies all the time, it was my livelihood, but I still couldn't contain the small gasp that came out. I looked from the blonde man, to the pool, to the blonde man again, and so on. So I did what any rational person would do in this kind of situation. I screamed. I screamed my freaking lungs out. I didn't think I'd ever been this loud in my entire life. I didn't look but I could feel him run over to me and put his hands on my shoulders, saying my name over and over again, pleading me to stop, saying that it was okay, and that he wasn't gonna hurt me, more of that crap.

There were people at the door, they couldn't get in it was locked, I didn't remember seeing him lock it, but I honestly didn't care, I just kept going, but so did he. My head was still facing the door, but when a grown man lands on you, you typically shut up and turn to see what the fuck just happened. But he knew that. He had a knee on either side of me and he put his hand over my mouth, pinning me completely to the couch. I had stopped screaming out of sheer terror at this point. Taking in the situation, I started up again. It was much harder to scream when someone was holding your mouth shut.

I could hear the people on the other side of the door trying to break through, they weren't, unfortunately, having any progress. I thought I heard Dean's voice, but I didn't have time to think about it, the blonde man punched me in the throat. It was unexpected, especially with the whole 'I'm not gonna hurt you' speech going on. It was a very effective way of getting me to shut up. It took everything I had not to vomit and pass out just then. I was practically choking to death from coughing and lack of oxygen. Trust me, its hard to breathe through your nose in this much pain.

"Shhh Cassie, its okay," he whispered gently before taking his hand off my mouth. I took in a huge gasp of air, and then swore a few times.

Do you want me to be perfectly honest with you? Okay, one, that was a rhetorical question and I was going to tell you anyway, two, for a professional killer I wasn't very 'tough.' I mean I did have my moments an' all, but come on, I'm a skinny short white dude from D.C, I didn't exactly strike fear into my enemies hearts with a single glance. Its too bad though, that would have been cool. Its kind of like that movie "Taken," with Liam Neeson "If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you." Of course I'm not as intimidating as Liam Neeson, and I'm not paying a ransom, but the quote still works. I would have socked him in the jaw right then and there. I swear I would have. But I didn't because I was too busy coughing up a lung.

Being preoccupied as I was, I had completely lost all concentration on the progress of my rescue, but the blonde man was actually the one who alerted me to the fact that no one was pounding on the door any longer. Now there was just the sound of whispers and something that sounded like metal clinking together. They were picking the lock. Thank you God. I would have sighed in relief had my throat not been half blocked off.

"Cas, I want to make things right with you, we can talk later, I can help refresh your memory. I'll see you soon."

I'll admit, I did want to know why I was scared out of my mind of this guy, but just hearing him say 'see you soon' gave me an upset feeling in my stomach. It wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't leaned down and pecked me on the cheek when he said his goodbyes. Now that made me want to vomit. It wasn't even anything bad or explicit, it was just a small kiss that lasted hardly half a second, but it was enough to make me go catatonic. I didn't even notice the door swing open. Or that the blonde man was nowhere to be seen. I was alone in the room with a dead body in front of dozens of people. And I didn't even care.

**%%% 31 Years Earlier %%%**

I could barely stand, I had to use a wall to support my vessel's weight. My mouth was full of the coppery taste of blood. The sticky red stuff was practically dripping from my mouth. Being an angel, I wasn't used to such pain, it was an odd sensation. I didn't like it. Lucifer had kept knocking me down when I stood up, we both knew that the fact that I could even bring my self to my knees at this point was impressive. My vessel's body had received so much damage, had he been here without me, he'd have been dead probably after the first time the blade broke the skin. His consciousness was unaware of what was happening, I was using what little energy I had left to shield him from this, he hadn't signed up to be tortured by heavens most infamous fallen angel.

We'd been in this room for ages, simply repeating the same conversation over and over again countless times. I'd long since stopped trying to fight back, I just couldn't muster up the energy. The holy fire surrounding me had dissipated ages ago. It was not needed any longer. I was in no shape to even make an attempt at escape, both of my wings were badly injured and one of them was broken. I wasn't going anywhere. He pushed me back against the wall. I flinched in anticipation of a cut or blow. But that wasn't what happened. It seemed he was trying a new method of torture. He had one hand on my shoulder, firmly preventing me from any movement. He used his other hand to start unbuttoning my white dress shirt. I didn't understand what he was doing. My shirt was already soaked in blood, I didn't see any point in trying to remove it, that was, until, he grabbed my tie and forced his lips on mine. My eyes widened. _He wouldn'_t. It was harsh, a bruise would probably form there in a few hours or so. It was my first kiss. I'd seen many humans do it, but they always seemed to be pleased by it, I however, was in extreme consternation and utter terror. I tried desperately to shove him off, kicking, and throwing punches. My struggling didn't seem to phase him one bit. He just kept going. Despite my loss of energy, I screamed "STOP," over and over again as loud as I could will it when I felt him undo the button on my pants.

**%%% Present %%%**

There was a hand on my shoulder. I could hear muffled yelling in my ear. I was staring off into space, not even attempting to glance toward the blurry images moving around me. The voices were gradually getting louder, the one in front of me sounded like Dean. I couldn't tell, but I thought he was yelling 'Cas," who the hell was Cas again? Oh right, thats me. The blurred shape, that reminded me of Dean Winchester, moved out of the way and was replaced by a different one. I Dean's hand move away, and this new blur's hand touch my forehead.

Then I snapped.

Without a moments hesitation I grabbed his arm, twisted it pulling him toward me and then I used my free arm to punch full on in his temporal lobe. He was down instantly. Another man reached toward me, I leapt up, grabbed his shoulders, kneed him in the groin, and shoved him to the floor crying with the first unconscious man. My vision was starting to clear, and I looked over at what appeared to be doctors standing back, not attempting to make a move at me. Suddenly I got an odd feeling in my gut that told me someone what about to hit me from behind. I everything happened at rapid speed, I through my arm up behind me, followed my instincts and out of nowhere it seemed I had caught some kind of pole. I yanked at it, pulling it from my attackers grip. I turned around and saw Sam Winchester in awe. I tilted my head to the side, looking from him to the pole and so on. I'm don't usually act pretentiously, but I must say, that was pretty damn awesome. Thinking about it gave me a sense of what I'd just done. I looked over to the doctor lying on the floor holding back tears gasping, and the one completely out cold. I dropped the pole and walked over to where Dr. Urso' body was behind the desk. The doctors had already found him and some of them were crowded around. I turned back to Sam and Dean, then to the doctors.

"I would appreciate if you didn't _touch_ me," God I sounded like a pathetic child. My voice was shaking and I'd barely even gotten the words out, due to my sore throat. I shuddered.

"Sam, Dean, can we, uh, talk for a second?" Sam didn't say anything, and Dean motioned toward the hallway. We walked a bit down the hallway to find some privacy, the moment we found it Dean started questioning me.

"What the hell just happened in there Cas, and you better not say 'I don't know'."

"I uh... I... There was a man there... I don't like him... I thought he was your friend, or something... Why else would you try to make everyone think I was dead..."

"What? Sam shot you through your freaking head, we didn't do anything, you did. What are you?"

"What are you talking about! That doesn't even make sense, how could you have shot me through the head! I'm fine!" Yelling back at them was really painful, my throat felt like some one had just punched me there. Oh wait. They did. Aren't I just a laugh.

"Yeah, hence my question 'what the _hell_ are you?"

I took a step back, shaking my head back and forth, eyes still wide in horror. Surprisingly it was Sam that spoke up next.

"Dean. I honestly think he doesn't know."

"Know what? Is this the whole 'not human' thing you guys seems to believe?"

"No human could have survived something like that."

"Well yeah, that was some trick by you guys, and its not very funny."

"Look, it doesn't matter, okay, you said there was a man?" Dean said.

"Uh.. Yeah, this blonde guy. I'd never seen him before but I've been getting all of these memories about him all day."

"Did he kill that doctor?"

"Yeah, I think so. I walked in the room with Dr. Urso, he told me to close my eyes, I got suspicious after a minute and when I opened them Dr. Urso wasn't there and the blonde man was." Sam and Dean exchanged glances.

"Can you give us a sec?" Dean asked. I nodded and they walked further down the hall out of hearing range. I didn't know what they were saying, but it seemed like arguing and they kept pointing and waving their arms toward me. After a few minutes they walked back over to me.

"Okay, we'll help you out, but on one condition."

"Okay?"

"You have to be completely honest with us."

"Uh... Sure fine whatever, just tell the guy to back off and leave me alone."

"Well, can you describe the blonde man in any more depth than just 'blonde hair'?"

"Blue eyes."

"That it?"

"Why?" I sighed "he's not your friend is he?" It was more of a rhetorical question.

"No."

I cursed under my breath again. My throat was still hurting like hell, that guy could really pack a punch.

"So, is your name Cas or James or Jimmy?" Sam was still giving me the 'death stare' but he sounded like he was at least _trying _not to run over and kill me right then and there. He was still pretty pissed. I didn't blame him. I'd have done the same thing. Kind of.

"My name is James. Jimmy is a puny fifth grader."

"You're still pretty puny if you ask me," Sam said under his breath, but still loud enough so that I could hear.

"Then why did that other guy call you Casteal?"

"Castiel. I don't know, the blonde man called me that to."

"Okay well guess what Mr. Cas_tiel_, you're about to tell us your life story." They both gave smug looks. I didn't have anything to fear, and the only thing I had to hide, they already knew.

"Lets get started then," I smiled, letting them know exactly what I was thinking.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural.

AN: Sorry for not updating in so long. It wasn't that I was busy, but more that I've lost all inspiration for this story. I didn't exactly _love_ Season 6, and of course I'm still going to watch Season 7 when it comes out, but I don't know how they can really make it awesome again at this point. Please no 'flames' or whatever.

%%% Piper's Perspective %%%

James was dead. I just watched my brother James die right before my eyes. It'd happened in a split moment, but it felt like hours. There were people outside of our—or, my, flat, taking pictures of the scene. My parents and I were being escorted to the police station to be interviewed, or debriefed, I didn't know, and I didn't care. James was dead.

I blinked. I was sitting in a chair in a very bland room, the interrogation room I supposed, and they always have those in the movies. I didn't know how I'd gotten there. Shock I guess. I hadn't really been paying attention to _anything_ that had happened. My parents weren't there; they must have been taken to a different room. I didn't know how long I had been there. It could have been minutes, or hours, time was all running together, everything was falling apart.

I heard the sound of a door opening; it shook me from my near catatonic state. A tall blonde man walked into the room. He looked at me with cold harsh blue eyes. His skin was pale, and had a few cuts on his cheek. He was wearing a nice suit, must be some sort of detective.  
"Piper Novak? Hi, my name is Nick. I'm here to talk to you about your brother."

%%% Cas' Perspective %%%

Sam, Dean, and I were sitting on the steps to the Jefferson Memorial. I'd taken off my white lab coat, and we'd snuck out of the hospital in all of the commotion. Dean's car was in the parking lot.

"My parents think I don't know that I was adopted, they never said anything, but I think it's quite obvious, don't you? We look nothing alike." I sighed, I was on edge like crazy, the adrenaline was still pumping furiously through my veins. There was a bruise forming on my neck from where the blonde man had punched me.

"Have you ever seen this blonde guy before today? I mean, other than in your mind."

"Um, no. If I didn't have this freaking bruise on my neck I wouldn't even be sure if he was real."

"Right so, he killed that doctor, but does he want to kill you? Like is he dangerous?"

"How the hell should I know! All I know is that I don't want to see him again. Ever! Okay. I'm a hit man! I touch people off all the time, but I'm never _scared._ The mere thought of this guy is making me want to go hid under my bed! Does that tell you _anything_?"

"I think we should talk to your parents, if they didn't tell you that you're adopted, they've probably kept other things from you to."

"Right, so what, you're just going to walk over to my grieving parents, who think you two just murdered me, and say what exactly?" Sam and Dean shared looks.

"Bobby." They said simultaneously.

"Bobby?" I questioned.

"Bobby."

"Oh yeah, _Bobby_, that guy." Dean pulled out a cell phone and started dialing.

"Hey Bobby! Its Dean… Yeah, yeah, Cas is right here… alive and kicking, well, not kicking anymore, but he's fine… You see, we need to talk to Cas' parents, and well, they think Cas is dead, and that we killed him… Would you?... Thanks Bobby, you're the best… see you soon." He hung up. "Bobby's on his way here now, should be here tomorrow."

"Do you have any other powers?" Sam asked.

"What?"

"You know, you got shot in the head and you're fine, is there anything else you can do?" I gave the Sam the single most confused looked I could physically muster.

"Like what? I hear voices. Is that a super power, or just my schizophrenia acting up?" Dean snickered, and Sam rolled his eyes.

"Do you think your motel room is safe? You didn't pay for the room under your own names did you? We can't exactly go back to my place now, thanks for that by the way, who the hell is going to feed Genevieve tonight, and my car, I love my car, I don't want to ditch that car."

"You're an assassin, don't you have safe houses or something?"

"Yeah, that was my apartment, I've got another place on the Croatian coast, a place in LA, I'm there a lot, a flat in Bristol, and a place in New York City. The closest place would be New York, and even that is a bit of a drive."

"Our motel room should be fine."

"Please do remember, this is DC, they take crime very seriously here. Anywhere else you can go up to 8 miles over the speed limit no big deal, here, you shouldn't go over 1 mile. This is like the cop capital of the world."

"True, you think we should leave town?"

"I think I should dye my hair, change my name, and flee the country. Cause, incase you hadn't notice, there is some guy out there who probably wants to kill me and rape my dead body, so thanks. Lets _please_ leave."

"Bobby's going to meet us at the motel tomorrow sometime, I guess we can just wait there."

"Can we stop by my place really quick, I'm sure the cops are gone by now, I need to get Genevieve and some spare clothes, I'm already packed and everything, it'll only take a minute."

"Okay fine, but I'm going in to get everything, you guys," he pointed at me and Sam, "would probably get recognized in an instant, I'll put on a suit and go get everything. You to can sit in the car. And please, try not to kill each other, thank you."

We went back to Dean's car and drove back to my flat, at least he was smart enough to park a few blocks away.

"Now stay put, I'll be back in a minute, okay. Oh, and Genevieve is the cat, right?" I sighed.

"Yes."

Sam and I sat in utter silence for several minutes. We both kept turning our heads to see if Dean was coming back yet. He wasn't. We kept from looking at each other. Sam was in the front so it was easier for him. I tried to keep my head down when people walked past the car. _What's taking him so long, was someone there_. I didn't say anything, but I didn't like waiting. The car seemed to be getting smaller and smaller by the second. Another few minutes passed before Dean returned.

"Man, this cat of yours is hard to catch, I don't think she likes me." He opened the car door and handed Genevieve to me.

"Awwwwwwww hey Gen! I love you sooooo much!" We touched noses, and she settled down in my lap.

"What! That thing has been bouncing all over me since I grabbed her, she wouldn't stay still!"

"Sorry, I guess she just loves me more." I gave him a smug look, and turned my attention back to Genevieve.

%%%

When we arrived at the Winchester's motel I made sure to do a full sweep of the place, and walk with Dean around the block to look for anyone who could be watching. After finding nothing and seeing no one, we went into the room. Genevieve was sleeping on one of the beds, Sam was sitting on the other flipping channels. It was quite late now, it was hard to believe that just that morning I'd been with my father at the shooting range. It'd been a really long day. I changed into so different clothes and then laid down on the bed next to Genevieve. She got up and curled up against my legs and fell asleep again. I to was about fall asleep when I felt the other side of the bed dip. I sleepily opened one eye and glared at Dean who was lying on the bed next to me.

"What are you doing?" My voice sounded so groggy. I can blame that on how tired I just realized I was, and the bruise I was now sporting on my windpipe.

"I'm sleeping." He replied. I suddenly didn't have the strength to fight it.

"Whatever," and I closed my eyes, I would have rolled over but Genevieve was sleeping in between us and I didn't have the heart to move her.

I woke up suddenly a few hours later. Sam, Dean, and Genevieve all seemed to be missing. Their friend Bobby must have just gotten here or something, Genevieve was probably trying to look out the window, or she was sleeping under the bed somewhere. I yawned and considered getting up to look around, but decided against it. I lay on my back and stared at the ceiling waiting to fall back asleep or for Dean to come back.

"I'm sorry about earlier Castiel, how is your neck?" I yelped in surprise and almost fell off the bed. "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you."

I jumped out of the bed and started sprinting to the door. I grabbed at the doorknob but it was locked. I just kept trying to tare the door open. I felt his hands tangle in my shirt and drag me backwards. I could almost feel my feet leave the floor, the next thing I knew I was pinned to the wall.

"I just want to talk, is that okay? I need you to tell me where you are."

"I… I don't know you." I stuttered.

"Yeah you do Cassie." He stepped closer "you just don't remember me right now. But I'm going to change that. You just need to tell me where you are." He put his hands on my head holding me in place, for a second I thought I was going to throw up. Feeling his hands on my skin brought the intense feeling of nausea. My legs were shanking.

"No… No, please don't."

"Shhh," he whispered "this will only take a moment."

"No! No! No! No! No!" I started screaming "not again! Please! No!" I pleaded.

I felt hands on my shoulders. _Was I seizing_? My entire body felt like it was shaking. I could faintly hear my name being shouted, but I didn't care, I wanted him to stop touching me.

"Stop! Please stop! No! No! No!" I could feel tears streaming down my face.

"Castiel! Cas! You need to wake up! Can you hear me!" If I hadn't been so terrified I might have noticed that the blonde man was in fact not the one talking to me.

%%% Dean's Perspective %%%

It was last into the night and so far Cas had slept through most of it without so much as a snore. I was right in the middle of this great dream involving two hot chicks, no more needs to be said. But the next thing I knew I was wide-awake, Cas had started trashing about and screaming. Sam, to, was up immediately, he got the light and I tried shaking Cas awake. Nothing was working, he just kept screaming.

"No! No! No! No! No! Not again! Please no!" He screamed at full volume. He sounded terrified. I had to try and wake him, we really didn't want to draw attention to ourselves and have someone call the police.

"Castiel! Cas! You need to wake up! Can you hear me!" He didn't even pause, he just started to thrash harder. Sam walked over with a bottled water and threw it in his face. Cas practically leaped out of bed. Panting, his eyes moved all over the room.

"Hey, hey, Cas, you're fine, there's nothing here, its okay." I tried to calm him, I put a hand on his shoulder and he immediately flinched away as though it had burned. After he took in his surroundings he appeared to calm down.

"D… Dean?" He sounded, surprised and relieved. There were tears running down his face now. The cold, calculated man that felt nothing for anyone other than his cat, that would kill someone with a second thought, wasn't standing there before me. What I saw a terrified young man, shaking and crying in the corner of the room.

"Cas, Cas shhhh, its okay, its okay now, it was just a nightmare, you're fine." Cas visibly flinched at some of Dean's words. "Was it the blonde man?" Castiel looked away, it was enough to answer the question. I looked over at Sam, then back at Castiel.

"He was there. It felt so real. I truly believed he was standing right here. He was still shaking uncontrollably, unconsciously holding his hand to his neck.

"Did he say anything?"

"He said, that I knew him, but I didn't remember, and he wanted to know where I am."

"What do you mean 'where I am?'" Dean questioned.

"He said 'I need you to tell me where you are.' Does it matter?"

"Did you tell him?" Sam asked emotionlessly.

"What?"

"Did you tell him where we are?"

"What, no—" All three of us jumped when someone started to pound on the door. Sam and I reached for our guns, after seeing Cas in action earlier, I knew that who ever this blonde man was, was really taking a toll out on Cas. I can say right now, I really hope I never have to meet this guy. Castiel may have been small, but he was quite intimidating, one of the toughest guys I've ever met, and you'd have to be pretty badass to strike that kind of fear into someone like him.

"Sam! Dean! You idjits there or not." I sighed in relief then walked over and let Bobby inside. "So you boys about to tell me what the hell's going on?" He stepped in and took off his jacket.

"Uh…Bobby, this is Castiel," I stepped out of his line of sight so he could see Cas standing in the background.

"Oh good, so you're the idjit who tore up my house," he rolled his eyes and walked over to Cas who was still shaking. "Jesus boys, what'd you do to 'im?"

"Bobby, is it possible for something to talk to you during your dreams?"

"What?"

"Cas said this guy was in his dream, he asked him to tell him where he was. Is there a possibility that it might not have been all in Cas' imagination?"

"Well, I suppose its possible, but this thing would have to be damn strong, your everyday demon couldn't do anything like that." He turned towards Cas, "are you sure he was talking to you, it could have just been a memory, Dean said you were getting memories of this guy." Without looking up Cas started shaking his head quickly.

"It wasn't a memory, it couldn't have been. It was so real." Genevieve ran out from under one of the beds, and Cas bent down and scooped her up in his arms. "I uh… I'm going to go for a walk." He grabbed his shoes put Genevieve on the bed and walked out. None of us tried to stop him. I knew he wasn't going to take off without the cat. Once he was gone Bobby started talking again.

"Dean, are you sure we should be helping this guy?"

"Maybe he deserves what he gets." Sam spoke up.

"Okay, personally I think the guy's already gotten what he deserves, his entire family thinks he's dead, he can't exactly go back there ever again." Sam looked away guiltily; he knew Jess wouldn't have wanted him to kill James Novak. She would have wanted him to help put her killer behind bars. That was not necessarily Novak but the guy who'd ordered the hit. He was her real killer. This blonde man was after Castiel probably because he could point us in the direction of the man who'd ordered Jess' death. They'd probably sent blondie after Cas to tie up loose ends. Maybe he shouldn't be walking out by himself at this time of morning.

"We can help Cas, and Cas can help us. Its win-win, why don't you guys just give it a rest. We can talk about this again in a few hours. Given that Castiel doesn't get murdered on his 3AM walk."

"That boy can take care of him though can't he?"

"Yeah, he's pretty good, but if he runs into this blonde guy I can't guarantee anything."

"Have either of you actually seen this guy?"

"Well, not exactly, but Cas said—"

"Oh well if _Cas said_ then it must be true. How do you know this guy isn't playing you, he could be pulling all the strings here."  
"Okay look! I'm not an idiot! I know Cas can't be trusted! But I'm going to give him a chance, okay! Will you guys just relax, its 3 in the morning." Sam grabbed a blanket and lay down on the floor letting Bobby have the bed. I left the bathroom light on so Cas wouldn't trip on anything when he got back. I only closed my eyes for a second.

%%%

The light shinning in my eyes woke me. Bobby and Sam were still sleeping. I reached my arm over to the other side of the bed to where Cas was sleeping. But he wasn't. There was no one there. I could feel panic rising inside. The bathroom light was still on. The clock read 10:30AM, and Genevieve was curled up sleeping next to Bobby.

"Cas?" I called out. "Sam! Bobby! Wake up!" They both reacted quickly, springing out of bed. "Cas isn't here. I don't think he came back last night."

"What! He's gone?" They were both on their feet.

"What? Who's gone?" I quickly spun around and saw Cas standing in the door of the bathroom, one earphone in, the other dangling down against his chest. A toothbrush was sticking out of his mouth.

"Oh thank god," I tilted my head back in relief. Cas looked around at us all, confusion plastered all over his face. He was fully dressed.

"What?" He asked again.

"We thought you'd been kidnapped or something."

"Uh, no I'm fine." He smiled slightly for a moment. "You guys all just sleep pretty late. Its 10:30 you know." He walked back into the bathroom.

"I better get dressed to, need to go talk to cat boy's parents anyway."

"Cat boy?" Cas yelled from the bathroom. "Is the name 'James' just that hard for you people to understand?" I scoffed at him.

%%%

Bobby got out of his car, wearing a nice suit and trench coat, hair slicked back, walked up to the police station. He'd called ahead about questioning the Novak family. He was going undercover as FBI. Dean, and Castiel were going to wait the motel, and Sam was going to the library to research anything that might be able to enter someone's dreams like that.

"Hi, I'm Agent Anthony Eminiss with the FBI, I'm hear to speak with the Novak family about James Novak."

"Agent Eminiss? Yes, I'm Detective Carpenter, I'm in charge of this case, we spoke earlier on the phone. Do you mind if we talk in my office?"

"Lead the way," Bobby replied. They walked down a long hallway to an office at the end.  
"How much do you know about the case?" He asked.

"Just that James Novak was shot and killed yesterday."

"Did you know his body has gone missing at the morgue?" He had, obviously.

"Missing? Really?"

"Yes. According to the neighbors, Novak apparently killed his murderer's fiancée. At first we thought Novak was being taking out because of that fact, but now we have reason to believe that this may be something else entirely."

"Really? Why is that?"

"Piper Novak, the sister."

"Yes, what about her?"

"She was murdered late last night." Bobby's eyes widened.

"What?"

"Yes, in this very building in fact. She was waiting in the interrogation room. Someone posed as a detective and went in last night, interviewed her. We have the whole thing on tape. What happened, I wouldn't have believed it if the tape hadn't caught it all."

"Can I see the tape?"

"Yes of course, but we're moving the elder Novak's into witness protection, they've lost two children in less than two days, I'm sorry, but you won't be able to talk with them anytime soon."

"Yes, I understand." Detective Carpenter turned his computer screen around and clicked play. It showed a young girl with strawberry blonde hair sitting at a desk, her shirt splatter with drops of blood. An older man with short cropped blonde hair walked in. He was wearing a suit.

"_Piper Novak? Hi, my name is Nick. I'm here to talk to you about your brother. Can you describe the men who hurt him?"_

"_Um... there were two of them. One of them said his name was…. Was… was…. Dean, and his brother's name… was Sam…. Uh… Winchester…. I think it was…"_

"_Sam and Dean Winchester?" He looked as though he was considering this for a moment. "Do you have any idea where they might have gone? Did they say anything to you?" He walked around to where she was sitting down, and stood behind her._

"_N...n...n…no." _

"_Hm, that's too bad. I'm going to find them you know, it really doesn't matter if you know anything or not. They tried to hurt Cassie. I don't take too kindly to that. He's my baby brother, it's my job to protect him. Oh, don't be sad Piper, you must have known he wasn't your real brother. He'll probably even be a bit sad to hear about your death."_

"_My… my… what?"_

"_Your death." It seemed as though his arm went right through her. Like cutting butter. She couldn't even scream. It was over in a second. Then he looked up. Cold piercing eyes penetrated the camera. It was as if he could see everyone watching. Then a smile. _


End file.
